Gwenaelle Cruysmans

Her gaze then sharpened through her expatriations, notably in Paris for three years, then during a stay of over five years in Bucharest, Romania. Recently settled in Uccle, she rediscovers Brussels with renewed enthusiasm. Her work is a poetic exploration where detailed observation, inherited from her training, meets a rich imagination nourished by her travels.

Education and Vision

Graduated from the Saint-Luc school and the Van Der Kelen Institute, where she was awarded the gold medal, her interior design training instilled in her a methodology based on rigorous observation. She retains from her professors the importance of "looking up" and "getting past the facades" to discover the hidden essence of things.

This approach defines her process: seeing beyond the rational to make room for the imaginary, transforming her "memories" and her "personal adventure" into works to share.

Artistic Approach and Themes

The "common thread" of her work is the meeting between architecture and nature. Gwenaëlle Cruysmans is particularly sensitive to Art Nouveau and Decorative Arts details, which she integrates into her compositions.

She enjoys creating dreamlike scenes where nature "finds or seeks its place wherever it can." Her creative process unfolds in three stages:

• Inspiration: Her works are born from walks and photographs.

• Composition: She assembles these fragments to translate a feeling "at a single glance."

• Technique: She favors mixed media to create unique works, characterized by great "attention to detail in a limitless world."

International Inspirations

Gwenaëlle Cruysmans' journey is marked by immersion in capitals with strong identities.

• Bucharest (2020-2025): Her stay in Romania led to a "more liberated" series of works, guided by Bucharest's energy. She captured the atmosphere of a "rich, vibrant, and surprising" city, fascinated by the contrast between "architectural jewels of a rich past that are abandoning themselves" and a modernity that is "fast, very fast, sometimes incomprehensible."

• Paris (2017-2020): Her three Parisian years refined her eye for the architectural and decorative details that constitute one of her signatures today.

• Brussels (Since 2025): Today settled in Uccle, she brings this same curious and enthusiastic gaze to her city of origin. This return to her roots, strengthened by her international experiences, promises a new creative phase dedicated to exploring the known and unknown facets of Brussels

Philosophy

"I draw, paint, and escape... It is not running away but on the contrary a reason for being."

For Gwenaëlle Cruysmans, the act of creating is a necessity. The pleasure of transcribing an emotion, with delicacy or spontaneity, is at the heart of her practice. The ultimate goal remains sharing, because it is what "gives the desire to continue."