Exclusive Interview with Jackie Mulder

Amsterdam-based artist Jackie Mulder took an unconventional path into photography. After working in fashion and graphic design, she shifted her creative focus later in life—graduating from the Fotoacademie in Amsterdam at the age of 60. Since then, she’s embraced photography not as an end but as a beginning: a base layer in a deeply personal and tactile artistic process that blends images with wax, embroidery, and drawing.

Raised in a strict religious environment, Jackie began drawing as a form of escape and expression in her youth. That introspective practice now infuses her mixed media works with layers of memory, emotion, and a meditative quietness. In May 2025, she released her first artist book, Thought Trails, a poetic exploration of wandering minds, fragmented memories, and the healing power of nature.

We asked here a few questions about her life and work.

All About Photo: You’ve had a diverse creative journey—first in fashion, then graphic design, and now photography. What led you to finally embrace life as a full-time artist?

Jackie Mulder: That decision came naturally after my graduation show at the Fotoacademie in 2021. The positive reactions and the unexpected number of sales that weekend convinced me to fully commit. I’ve never regretted it. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my career.

Graduating from the Fotoacademie at 60 is a bold and inspiring move. What did that experience teach you—about yourself and your practice?

I had already experienced how refreshing a career change can be. I'm really glad I didn’t let my age stop me from taking a new path once again. Now I’m free to create what I want, without having to consider clients or their target audiences. That sense of freedom has made a big difference—in my work and in how I feel as an artist.



Your upbringing in a strict religious household seems to have profoundly influenced your early creativity. How did that background shape your voice as an artist?

Growing up in a strict religious household, I often felt I couldn’t speak nor express myself freely. Drawing became my way to create a world where I did have a voice. Alone in my room, I would spend hours making large, intricate works filled with tiny figures—something that still echoes in my current visual language. The themes of suppression, isolation, and the search for freedom continue to shape both the content and techniques of my work today.

Looking back, do you feel like the timing of this artistic breakthrough—after age 60—gave you more freedom or clarity in your vision?

When you're a bit older, you don’t worry as much about your financial situation. That gives you more freedom to experiment, without expecting immediate results. And that freedom benefits the work. The title invites curiosity—what does “Thought Trails” mean to you, and how does it reflect the themes of the book?

“Thought Trails” refers to the stream of thoughts that pass through your mind when you let it drift. That usually happens during repetitive manual actions, like embroidering or drawing—your hands know what to do, so your mind is free to wander. You move from past to present, placing memories and places next to each other or layering them on top of one another. In your head, everything is possible. That’s exactly how I work: I combine photographs—always my own—until a new world emerges, a landscape that doesn’t exist in reality but feels emotionally true.

You work with a wide range of materials: beeswax, embroidery, drawing. How do you decide which manual techniques to apply to each piece?

It’s mostly intuitive. The image usually calls for a specific format, a particular technique, or a certain kind of intervention.

The layering in your work creates what you describe as a ‘visual echo.’ Could you explain that idea a bit more—what is it about space and layers that speaks to you?

When there’s a few centimeters of space between two layers—say, the front is an image printed on transparent fabric, and the back is the same image on paper—something interesting happens. Especially when the front layer moves slightly, the images sometimes align and sometimes they don’t. It creates a mesmerizing effect. To me, it’s a perfect visual metaphor for what happens in your mind when you daydream.




Nature plays a recurring role in your compositions. What draws you to it as a visual and emotional language?

Nature has taken on an increasingly prominent role in my visual universe. It appears in many forms—sometimes literal, sometimes symbolic. Embroidery, for instance, becomes roots: connecting, grounding, anchoring the image to something deeper. Trees, mountains, and botanical textures often represent the tension between vulnerability and strength, or the ongoing process of destruction and renewal. Through these natural forms, I build layered, tactile ecosystems—spaces where personal history, memory, and emotion intertwine, and where new visual narratives can quietly unfold.

You mentioned that we often silence our thoughts with devices and noise, while nature allows us to wander inwardly. Is this book a kind of invitation to do just that—to pause and reflect?

That is indeed what I'm trying to communicate. Try not to constantly numb yourself with all the intrusive influences from the outside world. Turn inward every now and then—that can be incredibly valuable.

With the three editions of Thought Trails—the standard, the special with embroidery, and the artwork-box version—you’ve paid close attention to presentation. Why was it important for you to offer these different formats?

Not everyone who would like to purchase a unique artwork of mine can afford it. I’ve released the two latter editions so that people can still have a piece I’ve created on their wall.

Do you see Thought Trails as a standalone piece, or the beginning of a longer exploration? Will this visual language continue to evolve in future work?

Thought Trails is a concept I’ve been working on for four years now, and it still offers so many starting points to experiment and evolve. I can’t imagine feeling the need for a new concept anytime soon.

Thought Trails will be shown in major art fairs and exhibitions this year. What do you hope audiences take away from experiencing your work in those settings?

I hope people will take the time to truly look and let themselves get absorbed in the world I create. I hope they form their own associations and let their thoughts wander freely, just as I do while making the work.




What has been the most surprising or rewarding reaction to your work so far?

This summer, my installation Thought Trails will be on view at Singer Laren, a Dutch museum. I created this piece especially for the exhibition We Are Nature, which was initiated by Princess Irene van Lippe-Biesterfeld and curated by Maarten Spruyt. The exhibition is inspired by Princess Irene’s vision of the deep, often forgotten connection between humans and nature. Being part of this project is a tremendous honor. I’ve spent the past six months working on the installation, and seeing it come to life in such a meaningful context feels like a dream come true.

If you could leave viewers with one message when they close Thought Trails, what would it be?

I hope my work invites both wonder and wandering. I’d like viewers to move with it—to let their thoughts flow, to drift through their own memories and associations, and to be open to surprise. If the images offer a moment of reflection or spark a quiet shift in perspective, then the work has done what it needed to do.