Indra Joachimsthal

Indra Joachimsthal is a Dutch visual artist whose practice centers on painting, with a focus on intuition, process, and the exploration of inner imagery. Born in Utrecht in 2001, she recently graduated from the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Hague. Her work reflects a transition from performative and interactive practices toward a more material and painterly approach.

Joachimsthal’s artistic development began at HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, where she studied Interactive Performance Design. There, she worked at the intersection of theatre, games, and fine art, creating interactive environments and experiences. During this period, her interest gradually shifted from digital and performative frameworks toward the physicality of materials, leading her to focus on painting during her studies at KABK.

Central to her practice is the method of automatic painting. Working without a fixed plan, Joachimsthal allows forms and compositions to emerge intuitively, guided by gesture, movement, and subconscious association. This process is rooted in historical traditions such as surrealism, as well as broader explorations of intuition and perception, where the act of painting becomes a means of accessing what lies beyond rational control.

Her paintings often present fluid and shifting visual worlds in which boundaries are continuously redefined. Figures, animals, and landscapes appear and dissolve into one another, creating compositions where scale, space, and perspective remain unstable. Through these transformations, she constructs images that move between the internal and external, the imagined and the observed.

This interplay results in works that are open and associative, inviting interpretation rather than directing it. By embracing uncertainty and allowing the process to guide the outcome, Joachimsthal creates paintings that reflect an ongoing dialogue between control and spontaneity. Her practice positions painting as a space in which thought, perception, and material come together in a continuous state of becoming.

Education

• HKU University of the Arts, Utrecht – Interactive Performance Design (BA, started)
• Royal Academy of Art (KABK), The Hague – Bachelor’s degree, Fine Art (2025)