Charlie Leijen

Design - Off Road

Floral Relics of India

Charlie Leijen is a Dutch designer whose artistic practice primarily focuses on engraving, etching, and various printmaking techniques. Her work is characterized by a dark and highly detailed visual language, where themes such as skulls, bones, and horror play a prominent role and serve as an important source of inspiration.

In the summer of 2025, Charlie traveled to India to begin an internship within the field of design at Gia Mantra Global Village: An eco-community where artists, ceramicists, and creatives live and work together. During her time there, she created several murals and collaborated with the Arunachala Village School, which is connected to Regenboog India Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to education, healthcare, and environmental projects for underprivileged communities.

Across her journey, she was confronted with major cultural differences, poverty, environmental challenges, the contrast of dynamics between men and women, and the rawness that many people in the West often only know through stories and documentaries. Yet, within this context, she also became deeply inspired by the sense of community around her, the interactions with local children and artists, and the overwhelming diversity of colors, traditions, and religions she experienced during her time there.

This experience challenged the visual language that had previously defined her work, becoming fascinated by the new textures, layered rituals and traditions of India. The intensity of these experiences stayed with her, with a growing interest for translating them into new visual forms that became an essential part of her project and artistic development.

After returning from her journey, Charlie began creating art across multiple disciplines, mainly focusing on mixed media and silkscreen printing. Her current work aims to visualize her experiences, memories and sensory impressions of her time in India through printmaking techniques and paintings, while also establishing a fund for Arunachala Village School in order to continue supporting the school remotely from the Netherlands.

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