Sandy Van Helden’s illustrations of contemporary culture

Date
25 October 2016

Sandy Van Helden is a Dutch illustrator with an eye for visualising generational characteristics through her alluring curved lines. Graduating from the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam back in 2013 Sandy has worked as a freelance illustrator since, focusing on trends in “contemporary culture and fashion”.

The success of Sandy’s work is due to her attention to the current vogue, realised through an initial period of exploration, “which is then translated into my commissioned work,” she explains. Sandy believes that illustration is the ideal medium to display her interests: “it allows me to capture this current zeitgeist, taking cues from my generation, I find fashion interesting because it allows people to define and shape their own identity.”

The result of Sandy’s approach is a body of work featuring elements of femininity with an underlying comical disposition. “I don’t want to take myself to seriously,” she explains. “That’s why there’s always some humour in my work, a little tongue in cheek.” This humour is evident within a recent series of iMessage iOS10 Sticker Pack the illustrator completed in inventively developing her own app.

Above

Sandy Van Helden

Above

Sandy Van Helden

Above
Left

Sandy Van Helden

Right

Sandy Van Helden

Above

Sandy Van Helden

Above
Left

Sandy Van Helden

Right

Sandy Van Helden

Above

Sandy Van Helden

Above

Sandy Van Helden

Above

Sandy Van Helden

Above

Sandy Van Helden

Above

Sandy Van Helden

Share Article

About the Author

Lucy Bourton

Lucy (she/her) is the senior editor at Insights, a research-driven department with It's Nice That. Get in contact with her for potential Insights collaborations or to discuss Insights' fortnightly column, POV. Lucy has been a part of the team at It's Nice That since 2016, first joining as a staff writer after graduating from Chelsea College of Art with a degree in Graphic Design Communication.

lb@itsnicethat.com

It's Nice That Newsletters

Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox? Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world.