HSC&A / Johanna Van Parijs
Johanna Van Parijs
Johanna Van Parijs
Labyrinth, 2023
Guanacaste & Pochote Wood
250 x 120 cm / 98.4 x 47.2 inches
Price on Request
Using pieces of found wood, native to the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, Johanna Van Parijs creates geometric sculptures that resemble portals in both design and scale. Labyrinth, seen above, at over 8 feet tall, employs rough hewn strips of wood, some of which are burned to a dramatic deep black and others that maintain a desaturated, natural hue, all with visible wood grain patterns. The symbolism of the labyrinth has played an important role in Van Parijs’ work since she began exploring the possibilities of wood over five years ago. To the artist, this mysterious and ancient symbol embodies fear and hope, the primary emotions she felt as she stepped into her new life as a single mother in Costa Rica and took a leap of faith in her art practice.
With her background as an intuitive healer, Van Parijs employs geometry, repetition, and graphically powerful palettes to produce works of art that convey energy states to her viewers. Some of her work, like her labyrinths, have a stabilizing, grounding energy, while others uplift and unlock creative potential. By using found wood from her immediate surroundings, her pieces embody the essence of her Costa Rican environment. From conceptual sketches to polished final pieces, Johanna’s process is both meditative and meticulous—transforming raw materials into art that is deeply personal yet universally resonant.
This artwork conveys great dynamism, but remains deeply structured and ordered. It is the interface between order and chaos, movement and stasis, light and darkness, height and depth, masculine and feminine - corresponding to a cosmic vision, for our cosmos is comprised of subtly interwoven polarities.
- Johanna Van Parijs
/ About the Artist
Flemish artist Johanna Van Parijs studied three-dimensional art at LUCA school of Arts in Ghent, Belgium and received her MFA in video-art. During this time, she explored depth, layers, texture and mixed media, and began exploiting these attributes in her work in order to make her art “feel alive.”
Years later, while living as a single mother in her adopted home of Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, her focus shifted from oil painting and collage to working in wood. While manipulating wood on a large scale, she discovered that the extreme physical effort required of her, produced work with a sense of intentional energy and thrust that her earlier work had been lacking. In 2019 she opened her first workshop devoted to creating custom wood sculpture and unique home furnishings.
Her sculptural wood panels, constructed on an impressive scale, are now highly sought after on the international market, and she regularly produces monumental wall installations for architectural homes with the assistance of a team of local artisans.
Johanna, and her work, including the interiors she has designed for her family home, were recently featured in Vogue Living, Netherlands. In addition to her wood workshop, she maintains a design studio and art gallery in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, where she lives with her partner and two children.
/ How To View
Join us on Instagram this Sunday, November 24 at 9 am PT / 11 am CT for an HSC&A / IG Live with Johanna Van Parijs, as we tour her art and design workshop on the beautiful coast of Santa Teresa, Costa Rica.
This is a unique opportunity to explore the impact of place on an artist’s process and creative output. Be sure to follow these steps so that you don’t miss out on this event.
/ Follow @sloanprojects (https://www.instagram.com/sloanprojects/) on Instagram
/ Set an alert for IG Live using the reminder feature on our post
/ Tune in on Sunday, November 24 at 9:00 AM PST / 11:00 AM CT on IG Live
