Art: Ruud Van Empel

Ruud Van Empel is an internationally known Dutch artist with a complex working method.

Empel graduated Cum Laude from the Academie St. Joost and worked briefly as a designer before devoting his attention to making free video tapes and staged photography. He worked as a creative director for theatre décor and was the artistic director for various television and film productions.


Like many artists, Empel needed more outlets for his insane creativity. He developed himself further as a visual artist in the mid-nineties and a dedicated later established himself internationally.

Empel photographs 4 or 5 professional models in his studio and takes many detailed photographs of leaves, flowers, plants and animals. The models pictures are mixed with these images using the Photoshop program and with clothes photographed separately on a tailor’s dummy. In this way he creates new images of mainly children, in black and white, set in a paridisaical environment.

It's wild and I love it! The above (and below) photographs are from his series titled World, Moon, Venus (2005-2008). Here are some words of inspiration from Empel himself,

“Coincindence is very important in making collages, I photograph all kinds off things, just following my fascinations, later these photo’s happen to come together in one collage. Sometimes it takes years for a photo to get into my collages, lots of photo’s I take never get in. I use the computer to make my photo-collages, but the collages are made by hand… I don’t let the software make the artistic decisions; I… use the sissors and glue, digitally.”