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judith westveer

ARTIST FOR THE AMAZON

Judith Westveer
Mandala

Testimonial

“The Amazon matters to me as this ecosystem gives me an immense amount of inspiration. This truly is the wildest of all wildernesses. The animals, plants and fungi in this ecosystem all behave as they should behave, without interference of humankind, which gives us an incredible insight into unspoiled beauty and behavior. From a perspective both as a scientist and an artist, I want to document this beauty, before it is too late.”

About Judith Westveer

Conservation Ecologist and Visual Artist.

I was born and raised in a city (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), yet I always longed for the jungle. Probably due to my heritage: my grandparents lived in the tropical rainforest of Sumatra, Indonesia and my mother spent her early childhood there, surrounded by a giant forest with tigers.

I’ve enjoyed a scientific career and have a PhD in conservation ecology, but always dedicated time to creating artwork, as I consider myself more a naturalist than a scientist. Science and art often overlap, and I love dedicating my time to botanical or taxonomical paintings and creating mandalas from local seeds, leaves, feathers, mushrooms etc. I love to display an ecosystem in a creative and playful manner, which will interest and meanwhile educate the observer. My main inspiration comes from Ernst Haeckel and Maria Sibylla Merian, who were some of the first to document nature in great detail.

I’ve spent the last 2 years living in the Peruvian Amazon, where I made many mandalas (each one will tell a different story) and where I painted lots of local wildlife, in an organized/educative fashion. Currently, I’m into painting children’s book stories and creating more mandalas.

Dung Beetles
Hummingbird
Mandala
Aquatic insects
Mandala
Mandala
Mandala
Mandala

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