Veks Van Hillik's Murals Draw on Dutch Still Life and Ecology

Veks Van Hillik paints large-scale murals and studio works that draw directly on Dutch Golden Age still-life painting, placing fish, insects, and other creatures in surreal arrangements with clear references to memento mori and ecological themes. Fish dominate as a recurring motif, originally learned as a childhood drawing subject, valued for their visual range from graceful to grotesque. Van Hillik describes the work as engaging with anthropomorphism and fable traditions, with an ecological subtext he says emerges whether he intends it or not.