Lies Daenen
Lies Daenen works at the intersection of art and ritual. Using drawings, paintings, photographs, installations and performances, she questions the anthropocentric worldview. She evokes a universe in which all life is equal and interconnected — in right relation.
Trees and animals play a central role in this universe, alongside human encounters with vulnerability and processes of healing.
In her work, Lies seeks to reveal and make palpable the life energy that flows through all beings — often by inviting direct experience through interactive, ritual performances.
Guided by a longing for genuine contact with those who at first appear ‘other’, she invites viewers and participants to enter into an ensouled relationship with one another and with nature. A holding space for connection and restoration — for and with each other, and with the Earth.
Her work is nourished by her background as a philosopher, process and ritual facilitator, and coach, and by her training in collective trauma healing, reiki, shamanism, and other spiritual traditions.
In the fragility of existence, the soul reveals itself — its mystery.
A visual exploration of what moves me and connects me to the flow of life.
Education
Artistic Education
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2024 – : SLAC Leuven, cross-over studio with Marc Horemans, Hilde Overberg, Leen Stoffels, Esther Eggermont
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2016 – 2022: SLAC Leuven, project studio with Marc Horemans
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2011 – 2016: SLAC Leuven, specialization in painting with Hilde Overberg, Quinten Ingelaere
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2009 – 2010: Mentorship with Philippe Van Snick
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Earlier: self-taught
Other
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Since 2012: Various trainings in trauma healing, meditation, reiki, shamanism and ritual practices (including with Thomas Hübl, Cissi Williams, Daan Van Kampenhout, Griet Heylen, Roel Crabbé)
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1984 – 1988: Master’s degree in Philosophy, UFSIA and KU Leuven
Exhibitions & Projects
2025
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The Chair — multimedia — group exhibition, MoMeNT Tongeren
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Wearables — installation — group exhibition, SLAC Leuven
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Carte Blanche / Gravity — installation Silver Rain, video, performance — group exhibition, SLAC Leuven
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Les Fêtes de la St Martin — multimedia, installation — art trail, Tourinnes-la-Grosse
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'Boomwaden' - several tree-print ritual workshops, different locations
2024
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Weaving the Wheel of Seasons — artist in residence — participatory installation — Koningsteen Center, Kapelle-op-den-Bos
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'Boomwaden' - several tree-print ritual workshops, different locations
2023
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Rising Trees — installation, video, photographs, paintings — Expo Tweebronnen, Leuven
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The Tree of Life Stories — participatory project with residents of a care home: tree imprint, wooden sculpture/bench, photo series — De Kouter, Blanden
2022
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Magdalena — participation in dance performance by Sander Vloebergs — dance and body painting (with Sander Vloebergs and Katrien Vanderbeke, dancers)
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The Wolf of Gubbio — participation in dance performance — body painting (with Sander Vloebergs and Suresh, dancers)
2021
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An Eagle’s Tale — installation — A Space Without Walls, Ghent
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Faun / Fauna (on the mystic of creatures) — paintings, mural — Vonk, Tongeren (with Joran Pollet and Heidi Lavens)
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Start of the Boomwaden project, with first participatory ritual performance in Heverleebos, Leuven
2019
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Beloved Bodies — installation, performance Sananga – Into the Light — KADOC, Leuven (with Sander Vloebergs, Anne-Marie Van Kerckhoven and others)
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WAW (White Art Walk) — installation, performance Sananga – On Tears — Genval (group exhibition)
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Beeldrelaties — student project studio — Sint-Joris-Weert
2018
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Waiting For — installation, woodcuts, paintings — MT123, Leuven (with Muriel Princen)
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Kunstroute Leuven
2017
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Pilot — art and science — STUK, Leuven
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Kunstroute Leuven
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Auction MDD (Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens) — selected by Joost Declercq
2016
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Weltinnenraum — Muzes, Mechelen
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Luminous Rooms, Enclosed Courtyards — Kruidtuin, Leuven (with Klaas Verpoest, Chantal Sap and others)
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KOTK, Beveren — group exhibition
2015
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Colloquio-Tento in Corso — Leuven (with Gert Verhoeven, Jacqueline Mesmaeker, Ria Pacquée, Dora García and others)
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Defenceless — Loft 130, Korbeek-Lo
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Kunst in Huis — “Artist in the Spotlight”, Antwerp
2014
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Duo exhibition with Katja Noelmans — Church of Laak, Houthalen
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Oxygen (with Bert Daenen) — De Bottelarij, Wellen
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Kunstroute Leuven
2013
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Looking for the Soul — ’t Rood Huys, Leuven
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Belfius Art 2013
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A Woman Is a Woman Is a Woman — European Commission, Brussels
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Kunstroute Leuven
2012
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Kunstroute Leuven
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Artefact — Het Pand, Ghent
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Ruimte Morguen, Antwerp
2011
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A Longing for Consolation — Velinx, Tongeren
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Fragile — Hannah House, Herent
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2010
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The Twelve Weeks of Saint Michael — Sint-Michielskerk, Leuven (selection by Kunstwerk(t))
2009
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Fragile — Ri Coëme, Heers
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Sacred Reality (You See It / You Don’t) — PAC, Vaalbeek
Linked organisations
Wheels of Wisdom - The Art of Unraveling Complexity
https://www.wheelsofwisdom.be/en supports individuals, teams, and organizations through times of transition. Our foundation: intuition, experience, and knowledge. Our trainings in natural and cyclical leadership help participants align with their inner rhythms and the movement of the larger whole. Our coaching offers space for personal growth, with attention to body, systems, meaning, and inner direction. Rituals and team-building activities create a shared space for collective healing, closure, or reorientation during key transition moments within groups and organisations.
CARess - Art & Rituals for Collective Healing
https://www.caress.earth/en offers rituals and artistic practices as a foundation for collective healing and reconnection.
In times of change, acceleration, and loss, we create space for what needs to be felt, acknowledged, and transformed—in people, organizations, and communities. Through carefully crafted rituals and art, we open fields where pain, transition, grief, and collective trauma can flow in a supportive and safe way. Thus, we allow the flow of life to flow again—quietly, powerfully, and presently.
Art & De-colonisation
In 2024, the artists’ collective https://www.liesdaenen.com/en/decolonisation
emerged from seemingly coincidental yet meaningful encounters. Charles Djeumou, Moïse Ilunga Shambuyi, Freddy Tsimba, Sylvia Wesemael, and I decided to enter into dialogue and collaborate.
We see decolonization as an ongoing process of awareness and transformation, and we wish to explore how art can contribute to inner and collective change.