Anya Janssen is fascinated by the processes that form our human identity. She calls herself a storyteller and a collector of souls.
Her paintings tell about people who cross her path; encounters "meant to be", as she says herself. Often it is people who are on a crossroad or in a transformation process.
Anya Janssen crawls "under their skin" and "lives" with them for a short or longer period.
Prior to a new project, she enters into a long-term and intensive relationship with her subject.
For Janssen, painting is the ultimate attempt to get closer to her subject. “If you make a commitment with someone, he or she becomes part of your existence. You are less autonomous than you think. The others are very important for your existence, to understand things, to understand yourself. "
Her paintings communicate in a non-verbal way and leave room for doubt and not knowing. They are sanding, sometimes alienating or uncomfortable, and they possess beauty with the charm of a razor.