Margriet Pronk

Margriet Pronk is based in Oosterbeek, Netherlands. After working as a teacher and graphic designer, she decided to focus on painting. She began with acrylic and now works primarily in oil.

Pronk's practice centers on observing people—their movements, behavior, and appearance. She often works from photographs found in newspapers, magazines, and online sources, selecting images that appeal to her instinctively. In her paintings, she adds to and transforms these source images, creating new narratives that hold elements of dark humor, absurdity, or surrealism. The process is one of discovery; she frequently does not know why she has chosen a particular image or what will emerge as she works.

The painters Neo Rauch and Michaël Borremans are significant influences on her work. She is drawn to Rauch's colorful, alienating paintings that combine historical and personal imagery, and to Borremans's subdued, subtle approach.