That is how to best describe Jowy Maasdamme, the illustrator behind ISEEJANEMARY.
With the use of simple raw materials such as ink and pencil she illustrates her visions. In elegant but strong lines she enraptures a world that is both feminine and dark. She emphasizes transformation, fragility, and fantasy in a susceptible and delicate way.
Her work has a strong connection with both high fashion and the human body.
Jowy Maasdamme on her illustrations and on how fashion translates in her work:
"I can't remember not drawing. As a child it was always me and my pencil everywhere. In my room, in the train, on the bus, during class; it's what I love to do most.After several years of college, getting my degree in Dutch Law and working in different offices, I realized that what makes me truly happy is drawing. So I turned my life upside down and decided to try to do what I love all the time and make a career out of drawing. It's a ride, a hustle, an adventure, a roller coaster. It's definitely not easy but I adore every second of it and I am learning so much.
I get inspired by courage, fairytales, myths, nightmares, Disney, outcasts, punks, sex, vulnerability, nature, humanity, just by life. My drawings are mostly black and white, to me that feels natural, simple like night and day.
I mostly draw people; women. I get obsessed with faces, postures, eyes and my aesthetic is highly influenced by fashion.
For me fashion translates the spirit of the age. But I am only interested when there's a story behind her. Otherwise she's just an empty notion. I think a lot of people have stories to tell, share, create. It's just that a lot of people don't have the balls to do so anymore in an authentic manner. We live in an cowardly age and that translates into the boring trends we so often see. I loathe what fashion stands for nowadays or the prestigious world she's trapped in. Still I can't help but love her too, maybe it's the magic of dressing up that makes me love fashion so much. I'm in love with the fantasy of fashion, not fashion herself. These contradictions and personal preferences often emote through my drawings."
- Jowy Maasdamme -
