Thomas Thijssen: Soul Behind the Gaze

Thomas Thijssen made the leap from photography to fine art with very intentional grace. In his photographic years he honed a sharp eye under the mentorship of Erwin Olaf, and yet during the quiet of the COVID-years he felt the stir of something new, compelling him to pick up charcoal and oil and to speak with paint.

His work pulses with a quiet ambition to capture more than likeness: he seeks the soul behind the gaze. Through meticulous charcoal drawings and bold oil-on-glass creations he explores magical realism, inviting the viewer into a space where dreams bleed into daylight. 

Pieces like Whispers of Time evoke a subtle meditation on the passage of years—“an ode to the gentle power of passing,” as his website puts it—layers of memory and light, softening forms, deepening colours.