Timo Kuilder – Interview

Viewing your artwork, I see pieces that I would describe as corporate art and some that are more abstract. How would you describe your art?

That seems correct! Throughout the year I work 80% of my time on commissions for clients like Google, Facebook, The New Yorker, The New York Times etc. The rest I fill in with my own projects. But on my instagram I share more personal work and abstract pieces. Painting is still very new to me (I used to work mainly with digital tools) , it slows me down and I have no clue what I’m doing. That’s a big part of the fun, it’s surprising and I get very excited with the outcome. It also forces me to get even more to the point, which results in even more abstract pieces.

I love how it influences my work when returning to a digital piece. Embracing the more textured feel, sculpting shapes with a chalky brush like you do with paint instead of outlining and filling. And actually drawing a gradient instead of generating one.

It seems like many companies are choosing to use more illustrations in their models than photography, how has this affected you?

I started illustrating full time about 7 years ago, and since then there has been a big rise in (tech) companies using illustration in product and marketing. I think most companies are fed up with stock photography which can feel fake or not tailored enough.

Illustration also can help explaining more abstract themes plus it’s very suitable to cover more diversity and inclusion. I help a lot of companies and startups to define their brand illustrations and style. Business has been good!

Your recent book, “Until One Sunday We Didn’t” is about dealing with your father’s bipolar disorder. I too have a father with the same disorder and it’s changed a lot about me. How has living with your father’s bipolar disorder changed your perspective and changed the way you act?

Oh wow! I got a lot of response to my book from people who are in a similar situation. Who are bipolar themselves or have a family member with bipolar (or another mental health) disorder. Some people even told me it helped them discuss it more openly with their friends & family, so that really means a lot to me.

To come back to your question, it’s pretty hard to say how it affected me. I also didn’t want the book to be depressing or too sad. In a lot of ways my father was really outgoing and I had a really free upbringing. My parents were always supportive and open. But it was very clear my Dad was ‘different’ from most people. The book made me have a dialogue with myself about who I am, and how I connect to my father. I’ve connected these experiences in a book with black and white images, illustrating what’s it’s like to grow up with a father who becomes a different person from one day to the next. And this book is as much about him as it is about me dealing with his condition.

In your book, do you try to see it from your fathers point of view?

No, not really. I’m not bipolar and I didn’t want to fill in at all how that feels. The book is fully from my perspective, what it’s like to grow up with a father who is bipolar. He has an inspiring, energetic and creative side but also a dark and depressing one. Which resulted in too much drinking and affecting our lives.

Seeing your art for the book, it shows a lot of feelings that are unexplainable. How long have you been drawing illustrations for the book and when did the idea arise?

When I thought about working on a book, I quickly gravitated towards my father (and his bipolar disorder) as the subject. Something I never used to speak so openly about with anyone. Especially when I was younger, having a father who was ‘different’ made me feel ashamed. I was always trying to hide the fact that there was something out of the ordinary happening in our home. When my friends came over, I directed them up to my room as soon as possible, where we would play Nintendo64. From time to time I would go downstairs by myself to fetch lemonade and snacks in order to avoid having my friends run into Bob who was probably already drunk.

Actually it started more as a project for myself, and my friend Yasmin Dikkeboom helped me with the words. In the beginning I was just thinking of making a small zine out of it, but we both felt it could be made into an actual book at some point. We also felt it might help to break stigmas around mental health and specifically bipolar disorder. The process itself was quite intense, literally drawing out my feelings. And took about 2 years in total.

Is it difficult to show a more vulnerable side of things rather than very abstract pieces?

It wasn’t the most easy process, but it feels really good to tell a personal story which might help others. The difficult part for me was the balance between telling the most honest story about growing up with my father but at the same time not wanting it to be really depressing. Or filling in what it feels like to be bipolar, because I don’t know. I’m just drawing about my own experiences with someone who has this disorder.

You made many illustrations for publishers like the Guardian and The New York Times. What’s the process of that, from getting the call to viewing the final copy?

Editorial pieces most of the time have a quick turnaround. It’s nice to read a piece or a column about and then you start sketches with bits and pieces you found in the article. Sometimes there is already a more clear idea or direction from the art director. After a round of sketches it’s developing the illustration and it’s done! It’s really exciting though to see your spots in The New Yorker for example. I was cycling to a small magazine shop here in Amsterdam to see if they already had the latest issue with my illustrations in it.

Your color palette is very bright and simple. I love it. How did you choose your color palette?

I tend to use not too many colors, I like a more graphic approach I think. Why I choose certain colors I’m not sure. I like black and white a lot, it always works haha.

How did you discover your art style?

I think style is something you grow into. Some things stick and become part of your ‘style’. Like certain shapes or colors. Or the medium influences how you draw. It’s pretty fluid and changes over time.

I love your Instagram highlight of all the Matisse “The Dance” paintings and all the recreations of it. You even did your own recreation. What made you choose that specific painting?

I saw this trend of many illustrators recreating that specific painting. So I started saving them in a folder on my computer. It was really fun to see all the different interpretations of it. It was also the year I saw it again in Moma. After collecting them for a while I just had to make one myself!

What’s it like to see your work in action? Specifically your work for De Bijenkorf?

It was amazing to work with someone who creates windows and how to translate my illustrations (which most of the time just live on my computer / ipad) into life-size 3d objects. There were a lot of other things to take into account, like lighting, room for product, space for a mannequin etc. De Bijenkorf, which translates as ‘the Beehive’ is the biggest and most well known luxury department store in The Netherlands. They have 7 locations across the country with the one Amsterdam being their flagship.

In 2020 they celebrate their 150th anniversary. To celebrate we designed shopping windows which tell their heritage and history in 6 acts, each window roughly covering a timespan of 25 years. From the first escalator in the Netherlands to the opening of their store by Simon Goudsmit in 1870.

What’s the next big move for you?

I just finished some Bird Sculptures. They are made from wood and I added little magnets in them so you can stack them up to 3 pieces. Like a jigsaw. It was really interesting to work with wood.

I’m talking to a gallery to do a solo show next year. I’m pretty excited about that!