Janne-Louise is a Dutch artist working in sculpture and mixed media. Born and raised in Botswana, she grew up surrounded by wood and stone crafts. Her practice brings these natural materials into dialogue with acrylic, resin, mirror and foil, exploring the tension between the raw and the polished, the tactile and the reflective.
At the centre of Janne-Louise's practice is the question of how an abstract form can acquire identity. She has worked with the vulva from the beginning, not as anatomy or protest, but as a form capable of carrying personality and presence. Through abstraction, colour, material and naming, the form becomes a character; recognisable, but never fixed.
In her ongoing series Fête de la Foufoune, Louise creates what she describes as portraits without a face. Each sculpture has its own personality, style and presence. Wood and stone give the works structure, warmth and weight, while acrylic, resin, mirror and foil introduce colour, shine, reflection and transformation. The materials do not simply decorate the form; they help determine who each character becomes.
The series is an ode to womanhood, but equally to personality, self-expression and the freedom to take up space. A form that is often private or hidden is brought into the open and given an identity of its own. Louise approaches this with a sense of celebration rather than protest: the sculptures are not representations of one fixed idea of femininity, but a growing cast of distinct personalities.
Janne-Louise is not interested in reproducing the same sculpture. She is looking for the next character. Across different colours, materials and scales, the same fundamental form continues to transform into someone new. In this way, Fête de la Foufoune becomes both a sculptural series and an ongoing investigation into how form, surface and perception can create character.
Based in Amsterdam, Louise continues to expand the series through new materials, formats and characters, exploring how form can become a vehicle for identity, presence and self-expression.
Browse available works by Janne Louise and explore her exhibition history.