Sandra Goossens on Light, Mystery, and the Balance Between Intuition and Technique

Dutch painter Sandra Goossens, whose figurative-realistic portraits are featured on Singulart, describes light as the central pursuit of her practice. She names 'Before the Light Fades' as the work that best represents her current concerns, a portrait built from a dark background toward a distinct light source that she considers both technically demanding and mysterious. Goossens began as a self-taught artist working in drawing and later oil painting, guided by feeling and intuition, before formal training at art school deepened her understanding of colour, composition and layered painting. She says the blend of early freedom with later technical knowledge is when painting feels most natural. Her process runs from dark to light, seeking balance between shadow, atmosphere and emotion, and she deliberately leaves the inner life of her subjects unresolved so viewers can interpret a gaze or posture themselves. The figures she paints are based on situations that actually occurred, including one Singulart work drawn from a moment witnessed in a McDonald's. Goossens, who lives and works in the Netherlands, resists a specifically Dutch reading of her work, describing her subject matter as universal. Light remains the common thread, and she is expanding beyond portraiture into nature and still lifes, having completed her first still life, which will be added to Singulart shortly. Featured works include 'Trapped in light' and 'Before the light fades'.