Interview with: Magnolia Wood
August 2025
Welcome Magnolia Wood, first tell us about your background and why you chose to pursue this career. Do you remember the first artwork that stirred something inside you?
I have always been fascinated by art in its various forms and have engaged in various forms of expression of it, including: drawing, dance (ballet), fashion, theatre and I have a great love for cinema, have a diverse taste in music and am a continuous learner with love for books.
Painting as an interest came later, mainly as I used to always love to draw as a child and gathered some experience in painting and loved the feeling of it, more then being inspired by a specific artist. However, I’ve been aware of- and interested in the artistic canon of painters. From a young age I had exposure to painters’ works and I also included art and its history in my curriculum in high school, starting artistic projects even then. Initially drawing and later painting, allowed me to connect with myself on a deeper level, train my observational eye, and always kind of calmed me.
In the early days I was very much interested in Salvador Dali as he seemed to tap into a kind of subconscious, associative dreamlike level state. Maybe the key work that drew my attention is ‘The Persistence of memory’: his famous surrealist painting with melting clocks. I guess the uncanniness, a bit of the mystery and mix of realism and dreamlike elements was interesting to me. In film you find such work also with David Lynch who I later had some fascination for.
However, over time various artists have inspired me for different reasons. I also had a book of Tamara de Lempicka in my early teens which I used to look at a lot, and my parents had a lot of impressionistic painting prints such as from Edgar Degas in our house, however they were a bit too romantic for my taste.
Who are your favourite artists, and who are the ones that built your creative imaginary?
I have quite a few artists that inspire me and you will see in my work that I experiment with various painting styles that crossover- and play with various visual art influences such as expressionism, fauvism, pop-art, magical realism, symbolism and surrealism. My creative imaginary also is influenced at times by other art disciplines like: cinema and (classic) Hollywood, (mass)media, theatre & performance (art), fashion, dance and music. And other themes that are ingredients to my inspiration include cultural elements and scenery, personal memory, natural world and landscape elements, everyday scenes, food and beverage & technology. All these themes typically come out in a blend where the final pieces tie back to an expression of the human experience.
The visual artists that as of recent mostly inspire me are (in no specific order): Vincent van Gogh, Edward Munch, Matthew Wong, The Group of seven, Banksy, Brainwash, Cindy Sherman, Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keeffe, David Hockney, Edward Hopper, Caspar David Friedrich, Katsushika Hokusai, Claude Monet, Andy Warhol, René Magritte, Gabriela Munter, Pipilotti Rist, Damien Hirst, Peter Doig, Alex Katz, Gerhard Richter, Marlene Dumas, Louise Giovelli, Anouk Kruithof, Alice Brasser, Johanna Bath, Alex van Warmerdam, Georg Wilson, Arturo Kameya, Bobbi Essers, Lorian Gwynn, Aldo van den Broek, Tja Ling, Peggy Kuiper, Koos Buster, Helen Verhoeven, Giorgio Andreotta CalÒ, and Karin Hanssen.
I am also inspired by music artists & lyricists and other historical figures/characters/icons, writers, directors and choreographers such as: Bob Dylan, Lana del Rey, Taylor Swift, Zara Larsson, Selena Gomez, Rihanna, Carole King, Lauren Daigle, Chanel, Charly Chaplin, Pierrot, Greta Garbo, Marylin Monroe, Romy Schneider, Jane Fonda, William Shakespeare, Samuel Beckett, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, William Inge, Anton Chekhov, Jean Genet, Anais Mitchell, August Strindberg, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Franz Kafka, Roald Dahl, Friedrich Schiller, George Orwell, Jaques Lecoq, Tim Burton & Caroline Thompson, Sofia Coppola, Paul Thomas Andersson, Stanley Kubrick, Quentin Tarantino, Stephen Frears & Christon Hampton, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Wong Kar-Wai, Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, Jiři Kylián, Emio Greco, and Pina Bausch.
Some movies and series that (recently) inspire(d) me include: Kind (recent debut by Dutch screenplay writer & director Jan Verdijk), Agarrame Fuerte, Der Himmel uber Berlin, The Matrix, Kill Bill, various movies with Audrey Hepburn & Marilyn Monroe, Silent movies and Film Noir i.e. with Greta Garbo, The devil wears Prada, In the Mood for love, Lost in Translation, Blue velvet, Magnolia, Cesar et Rosalie, Barbarella, Amelie, Carrie, A little princess, Sissi, and Roald Dahl book adaptations to film such as Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, the Witches and Mathilda; some series such as GLOW and Vis a Vis who I think are written, acted and directed magnificently well.
What inspires you? Where do the ideas come from? How do you develop your projects?
Inspiration can come from both internal and external sources and often it is a mix. Earlier I would typically start one-off ideas or inspirations, more recently I often work in series around a same theme. I also experiment with form, style, and colour palette.
A teacher once called me a ‘strategic painter’ and I think that holds true. Mostly I start with a theme/idea/feeling/atmosphere in mind (which can initially be still relatively loosely defined) and then I look for the best form and style to bring that across which allows me to alternate between somewhat different styles whilst maintaining my own signature in the work. This is also something I admire for example in the work of Gerhard Richter, who experiments with different styles and forms, in a much further distinct way then I currently do, but as a point of reference. Although my work thus far always has been figurative, allowing myself to alternate with various styles and form gestures keeps it interesting and fun for me, to keep exploring and learning. Also, I feel that some styles are more suited then others to achieve a certain effect. So, I guess I choose a certain approach upon the desired outcome.
During the process of creating I still allow things to unfold in unexpected ways, connecting to a deeper level within myself and sometimes I understand only afterwards when I choose the titles what the work was actually about. In this sense, what envelops often goes beyond the mind and can have dream-like and deeply intuitive elements in it. Usually a certain theme arises from personal experiences & places, images from personal photos and found online or in magazines, film (stills), (mass)media, iconic characters, fantasy and intuition, external developments impacting me and likely the broader human experience, art itself, music, and (work by) other artists.
Whereas the inspiration and ideas usually come from personal experience (which may be exemplified by external manifestations in images), I always aim to create an experience which can be universal. You could see my paintings as inner visual landscapes.
Tell us a bit about the process of making your work?
Typically, once I have an idea/theme in mind, I collect and use images as a starting point to create a palette of shapes, with no intent to specifically create their likeness in most cases unless it is relevant for the idea/message to be conveyed, sometimes combining
various images to create a new one and/or adding elements to it. That is the starting point.
Then with that the layered process of creation on canvas starts.
Generally, you could describe the process as follows: 1. start of an idea / theme / feeling / atmosphere, 2. image search & image(s) choice 3. create underlayer with Gesso and/or acrylic paint, 4. material & (oil paint) colour palette choice and any additional materials of use, 5. create initial shapes on canvas with line items, light & dark colouring, colour blocks, 6. layering and mixing on-and off canvas, 7. moments of distancing and reflecting, 8. finalizing with final choices and refinements, 9. placing signature (sometimes after drying only), 10. drying, 11. varnishing, 12. Create certificate of authenticity and registration in catalogue/portfolio archive. Sometimes, I will create a new layer after drying if I feel the work is still missing something.
What are some references you draw upon in your work? Are there any themes in particular that you like to focus on when creating?
As discussed, I draw inspiration of different sources and there are some art movements, disciplines and artists that inspire me. However, that is usually more about the form in which my works manifest.
Key starting points that form the basis of my creation are: unwatched/fleeting (in-between) moments, an emotion/experience/question I am either carrying with me or that I desire to experience which has to find a visual form, experimentation with form, style, colour palette and materials.
Recurring themes that manifest in my work include: nature, (inner) landscapes & the human experience, modern scenes, art inspired by art (painting, film, theatre, performance, fashion, music, photography), art inspired by specific people, indie, pop & mass-media culture, ethnic culture (i.e. Japan), influence of technology, symbolism and magical elements of realism.
Where are some of your favourite spaces that support contemporary art or design?
Now that the art has an online presence, has that changed?
I’ll answer this question zooming into: (1) my current favorite contemporary art galleries, (2) favorite contemporary art museums, (3) favorite supportive platforms for artists, and lastly (4) how art with an online presence changes the scape in my opinion.
1. There are some contemporary art galleries I like very much which include both Dutch, Europe and global presence establishments, such as: Enari Gallery, GRIMM, Rademakers, Upstream, Annet Geelink, Vriend van Bavink, Gallery Fanny Freytag, Gallery Sofie van de Velde, Goodman, Pace, White Cube, David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, Gagosian, Phillips.
2. My favorite museums include (NL/Europe based and internationally): van Gogh museum, Moco museum, Stedelijk Museum, Rijksmuseum, NXT Museum, all in Amsterdam; Voorlinden in Wassenaar, Arnhem Museum, Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht, Singer in Laren, all in the Netherlands; Picasso museum in Barcelona, Tate Modern in London, Hamburger Kunsthalle; MoMa, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Whitney Museum In New York, The National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo (beautiful Monet exhibition), all internationally.
3. Supportive platforms for artists which I like are: Open Ateliers Westelijke Eilanden (OAWE) in Amsterdam, Visual Art Journal, Florence Contemporary Gallery, CAI Contemporary Art Issues, Brainard Carey’s book and materials for artists. Other online platforms for art/artists that I like include: Artenda, Artsy and Gallery viewer, Saatchi gallery. Grateful for classes and workshop snippets of learning from the Artez & AHK Art schools, de Teekenschool, van Gogh Museum, and the Wackers Academy.
4. I do think that with art having such an online presence nowadays adds further possibilities for artists to expand their networks and generate visibility for their art, which is great. It also allows you as an art lover to have access to a broad range of artworks and discover new art and artists every day all over the world, without physically needing to attend shows as we can only be at one place physically at the same time, but online you get to travel across within minutes. That said, I do think that art works are still best experienced physically, in person.
We are at the end of this short interview, would you like to add something about your artistic research? How did you find the collaboration with our gallery?
Nothing further to add. The collaboration has been good, pleasant: with quick responses and it has generated an overall feeling of being supported. Thank you.