Studio Poca
By ritualistic artist Julie de Ruijter
Julie de Ruijter is a ritualistic artist with roots both in the Netherlands and Switzerland. Her multidisciplinary work blends the tangible and intangible to explore the transformative potential of ritual. Her work intersects ritualistic spaces, experiences and intimate pieces, encouraging herself and participants to engage with their inner worlds and subtle aspects of being.
As a contemporary animist, Julie is dedicated to exploring new ritualistic practices and their ability to deepen our understanding of our interconnectedness with nature and the need for reconnecting with our bodies and feelings in an intuitive way. Julie views us as transformative beings, connected to our natural cycles and the movement of the whole. She believes that to create new systems of life that are in balance with the whole, we must move beyond intellectual understanding and into embodied experience. Her vision is that by marking transitions through rites that are connected to our landscape, place and time, we can better understand our interconnectedness with the world around us and find a way of belonging.
The start of Julie’s ritualistic work is rooted in a time when she felt deeply disconnected from her physical body, feelings and surroundings. Here she began to create new rituals as a way to reconnect with her own natural rhythm and intuition, and to align herself with the cycles and movements of the natural world. As Julie observed similar struggles of many around her with mental wellness and navigating the challenges of our times, she felt inspired to share her rituals and practices through her artistic work. Drawing on her background in fashion and textile design, Julie’s work combines traditional textile techniques with modern elements. Her ritualistic spaces often incorporate sensory elements, such as scent, sound, and interactive components, making her work not only a personal ritualistic practice, but also a means to encourage others to engage with their intuitive realms.
