The spiritual art of Arjan Winkelaar emerges from an intuitive, magical state of being. He doesn’t regard the drawing, object or talisman as an image in itself, but as a channel for spiritual energies – a site where subconscious layers, mythical structures and forces from ritual can surface and take shape.

He often works with found materials: thrift-store relics, vintage prints, or remnants founds in his studio. Objects he transforms and imbues with new meaning. In this way, each artwork becomes a magical and spiritual manifesto – a place where new stories are given the breath of life.

Thematically, Arjan Winkelaar positions himself at the threshold between the sacred and the organic. He draws upon the iconography of (Christian) religion and mythology, yet allows it to be overtaken by plants, symbols, and ritual markings. The eyes – a central motif in his work – act as portals that return the gaze back at the viewer and allow them to become part of the piece.

His practice resonates within the traditions of surrealism, appropriation art, neo-symbolism and the renewed interest in esoteric visual language. Still he resists this stylistic anchoring, choosing instead to remain in contact with the magical consciousness. Each work is an experiment in transformation: a play between revelation and concealment, devotion and irony, finitude and infinity.