introducing a new abstract painting series exploring vivid, colour-saturated terrains where layered forms search for moments of beauty within chaos / above: the garden sanctuary – an illusory garden where colour and form collide, swirl, and settle into place / acrylic and pastel on multiplex wood / 100 × 100 cm (39 × 39 in)
Hello. I’m Joost Hulsbosch. I paint — not only for joy, or love, but because something wordless wants out. I come from the Lowlands, where the land lies flat and the sky does all the talking. My work lives in acrylic, oil, graphite, and pastels — laid on paper, canvas, wood or metal. Some pieces resemble figures. Others drift toward complete abstraction. Most belong to that quiet, restless place in between.
This page is refreshed regularly with new work, usually once a month. For availability and further details, please get in touch: studio@joosthulsbosch.art
the enchantment (de betovering) / acrylic and pastel on multiplex wood / 100 × 100 cm (39 × 39 in) — part of an abstract series in which layered forms search for moments of beauty within instability, the enchantment hovers between recognition and disappearance. fragments of colour and structure briefly suggest the contours of a mediterranean coastal village, yet the image resists settling into certainty. architecture dissolves into atmosphere, landscape into sensation. what remains is an unstable field where clarity and illusion continuously exchange places, leaving the final reading to the eye of the beholder.the longing / acrylic and pastel on multiplex wood / 80 × 80 cm (32 × 32 in) — a more personal, dark and concentrated work in which figures are quietly bound within a shared tension /part of a new series of abstract paintings exploring layered forms that search for moments of beauty within chaosbuddleia / acrylic on linen canvas / 100 × 100 cm (39 × 39 in) — nature approaches abstraction; look closely at your feet and the ground becomes a painting – the purple buddleia (butterfly bush) settles into the long grass and quietly thrives there / the sharp, architectural contours are formed through a masking process, with sections taped off and revealed in sequence
ontvouwende stilte – unfolding silence / acrylic on canvas, 120×120cm (47×47in) — unfolding silence is a field of openings and withdrawals, unfolding through a quiet, breathing rhythm of emergence and retreat. forms appear only to dissolve again into the surface, as if the painting were suspended between presence and disappearance. what remains is an intriguing, meditative space where silence itself seems to expand and contract.the interference / acrylic on linen canvas / 100 × 100 cm (39 × 39 in) — a surface in motion, where bright pinks and sharp greens slide, collide, and fracture into unstable formations / the work centres on change: a force that interferes with how we function, how we move, how we hold on. it unsettles, disrupts, and reshapes — a constant that spares no one.soft fracture / acrylic and pastel painting on linen canvas / 60x80cm (24x31in)landshape / acrylic on linen canvas / 100 × 100 cm (39 × 39 in) / a land- or skyscape of heat and passion, where a lowering sun gathers and shifts / crisp, curved contours cut through the surface, formed through a masking-tape process in which sections are sealed and revealed in sequencesuncloud / acrylic and pastel painting on Hahnemühle paper / 80x80cm (32×32 in)the heat of the plaza / shapes gathering, still warm from the day’s sun / in terms of technique: the sharp contours are created through a masking technique, in which sections are taped off during the painting process to produce crisp, architectural edges / acrylic painting on linen canvas / 60×80 cm (24×31 in)swamp fever / a humid, hidden world where roots twist beneath the surface and life gathers in shadow / acrylic painting on linen canvas / 60×80cm (24×31 n)field of ecstasy / flowers in full bloom, vibrant forms swirling, intoxicated with colour / acrylic painting on linen canvas / 60 × 80 cm (24 × 31 in))entities of the void (the untold covid experience) 2021–22 / acrylic, pastel and pitt pen on linen canvas / 160 × 140 cm (63 × 55 in) — entities of the void (wezens van de leegte) unfolds as a shifting field of half-formed figures drifting between presence and erasure, their faces dissolving into fractured traces. the palette remains subdued, almost exhausted, as if drained rather than constructed. created during my covid infection, the work turns inward, toward a psychological terrain where angels and demons coexist without hierarchy, suspended in fragile equilibrium. what lingers is not the nightmare itself, but its residue: a quiet, unsettled space where meaning remains just out of reach.the shadow realm – het schaduwrijk / acrylic brush on linen canvas / 140x140cm (55x55in) / with age, a second inventory emerges / an inward archive of what was lived but never fully spoken / the shadow realm draws these fragments into a dense, shifting field where abstract figures and situations surface and dissolve, suspended between memory and omission / layered in semi-transparent blacks, greys, sienna and blues, the painting breathes through accumulation rather than declaration / forms overlap without hierarchy, tracing a parallel, shadow life alongside the visible one / at a distance, the field settles / what remained unarticulated finds a quiet structure; held, briefly, in equilibrium.collapse of the known world / the world, conceived as a contemporary Tower of Babel, fractures into unstable urban forms: order gives way to disarray as structures splinter and lose coherence / within these ruptures, small figures descend, briefly suspended by the very frameworks that once sustained them / acrylic and pastel painting on multiplex wood / 100 × 100 cm (39 × 39 in)Faint glimmers / acrylic brush on multiplex wood / 160×140 cm (63×55in)two griffins / acrylic painting on hahnemühle paper / 70x100cm (28x40in)the orange grove / acrylic painting on linen canvas / 140x140cm (55x55in)the tribute / indian ink and watercolours on archival paper / 45×70cm (18×28in)the ball of attrition (de slijtagebal) / indian ink and watercolours on archival paper / 45×70cm (18×28in)last day / gouache, acrylics and graphite on hahnemühle paper / 50x70cmwind chasers / acrylic paint on paper / 70x100cm (28×40 in)
The Dutch Sky Collection
In the Dutch Lowlands, where the earth lies flat, the sky becomes the landscape — boundless, abstract, alive
dutch sky11 / acrylic and oil stick painting on linen canvas / 140x140cm / 55x55in / a monumental sky in gold and blue, where abstraction meets nightfall, a fading red sun holds the balance, and fleeting wings trace their way homedutch sky 19 / acrylic painting on linen canvas / 160x160cm / 63×63in / a monumental sunset, reduced to hushed bands of orange – tension and movement hover within the abstraction, while delicate traces of flight move almost imperceptibly through the space.dutch sky 16 / acrylics on linen canvas / 160x160cm / 63x63in / a monumental blue sky reduced to essential form, where complex cloud movements and avian shapes are distilled into quiet minimalismdutch sky 09 / acrylic marker drawing on multiplex wood / 140x120cm / 55x47in / a highly detailed, hand-drawn abstraction, where fractured forms and electric lines collide into a storm-driven sky charged with velocity and physical forcedutch sky 15 / acrylic and oil pastel painting on linen canvas / 140x140cm / 55x55in / the sky swells into monumental organic forms, where endless landscapes are touched by a few fleeting wings, quietly revealing the vastness of their boundless worlddutch sky 06 / acrylic on canvas / 140x140cm / 55x55indutch sky 14 / acrylic on linen canvas / 140×140 cm (55×55 in)dutch sky 18 / acrylic painting on linen canvas / 140 x 140 cm (55 x 55 in)dutch sky 24 / acrylic and oil pastel painting on multiplex wood / 80 × 80 cm (31.5 × 31.5 in) – a retro clouded sky, where planes of colour carry themselves as if they were architecture.dutch sky 30 / acrylic and oil stick pastels / 80 × 80 cm (31.5 × 31.5 in) – the sky in warm geometry, where curved forms let clouds move like a landscape, with weight, rhythm, and quiet structure.dutch sky 42 / acrylic and pastel painting on linen canvas / 80 × 80 cm (31.5 × 31.5 in) – the sky reads like a dawn in motion, where cloud geometries align and a new day quietly takes shape.
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whispers of earth / gouache, graphite and coloured pencil on archival paper / 50x70cmwhispers of water / gouache, graphite and coloured pencil on archival paper / 50x70cmhope / acrylic painting on archival paper / 80x80cm (31.5 × 31.5 in)nachtval in de karoo / night descends in the karoo / acrylic painting on canvas / 80x80cm the glitch portrait collection / glitch03 / this portrait series, comprising more than thirty works, shifts attention from likeness to duality, exploring the double-faced presence each figure seems to carry. born from a serendipitous silkscreen misprint, the process developed into a deliberate inquiry, balancing chance and intention. working in mixed media, the series extends this exploration through the layered use of silkscreen, acrylic, and crayon on archival paper. 50 × 70 cm / 20 × 28 in each.glitch portrait 4 / mixed-media, silkscreen, acrylic and crayon painting on archival paper / 50x70cmglitch17 / mixed-media, silkscreen, acrylic and crayon painting on archival paper / 50x70cmglitch8 / mixed-media, silkscreen, acrylic and crayon painting on archival paper / 50x70cmnicole‘s favourite pose / acrylic painting on canvas / 80x60cmthedoor knob / acrylic painting on archival paper / 84x120cmre-renaissanced1 – 60x80cm Acrylic and graphite painting on hahnemühle paperre-renaissanced 2 – 60x80cm Acrylic and graphite painting on hahnemühle paperre-renaissanced3 – 60x80cm Acrylic and graphite painting on hahnemühle paper embraceable, you / acrylic painting on canvas / 60x80cmsea fog / acrylic and graphite painting on hahnemühle paper / 50x70cm (20 × 28 in)bluesen / acrylic painting on paper / 50x70cm (20 × 28 in)winter is over / multimedia acrylic and marker on stainless steel, pressed beneath glass / 70x100cmcelestial garden / multimedia acrylics on stainless steel, pressed beneath glass / 84x120cmin a garden da vida / acrylic painting on hahnemühle paper / 80x80cm (31.5 × 31.5 in)mpho / portrait of mpho mogotsi / acrylics with indian pitt pen on hahnemühle paper / 84x120cmtriplets – 20x30cm – acrylic and graphites on hahnemühle papercacophony street / acrylic and oil painting on achival paper / 70x50cm (28×20 in)cacophony city / acrylic and oil painting on archival paper / 50x70cm (20×28 in)cacophony square / acrylic and oil painting on archival paper / 80x80cm (31.5 × 31.5 in)entangled / mixed-media gouache, pencil and pitt pen painting / 50x70cm (20×28 infossils – acrylics and graphites on hahnemühle paper / 60x80cmsundaysolo / gouache, acrylics and graphites on hahnemühle paper / 30x40cmoasis / gouache, acrylics and marker painting on paper / 70x100cmfloat, don’t force / acrylic and graphite painting on hahnemühle paper / 84x120cmmasquerade / gouache, acrylics, spray painting on hahnemühle paper / 50x70cmthe big o / gouache and colour pencil painting on paper / 50x60cmthe burden / mixed-media, acrylic and graphites on hahnemühle paper / 70x50cmadriane@the lakeside / mixed-media, acrylic and graphites on hahnemühle paper / 50x70cmeva@the lakeside / mixed-media, acrylic and graphites on hahnemühle paper / 50x70cmhottentottenland / mixed-media, acrylic, graphite and ecoline painting / 50x70cm
ontvouwende stilte – unfolding silence / acrylic on canvas, 120×120cm (47×47in) — unfolding silence is a field of openings and withdrawals, unfolding through a quiet, breathing rhythm of emergence and retreat. forms appear only to dissolve again into the surface, as if the painting were suspended between presence and disappearance. what remains is an intriguing, meditative space where silence itself seems to expand and contract.
