Majken Enequist
Majken (Sneek 1987) is a Frisian-Swedish illustrator based in Utrecht. She creates atmospheric illustrations for children ages 4 through 100 that depict themes of loneliness, mental well-being and the search for yourself in a fairy tale-like manner. Her work is notable for its strong use of color and dynamic compositions. Majken is inspired by personal stories, people and nature, Scandinavian culture, folk music and psychological themes such as connection, loneliness, and (mental) well-being.
In addition to being an independent illustrator, Majken is also an Art Coach for beginning illustrators and art students. In 2011, she graduated as a visual arts and design teacher from Academy Minerva and has since been designing birth announcements, creating murals, and teaching creative workshops to children and adults.
Majken likes to work very intuitively, this gives her work an unpolished character. While training at Venster Academy, in addition to the power of sketching and researching, she rediscovered the joy of writing. She enjoys writing poetry and short stories.
Insta: @majken_enequist_art
Website:
www.majkenenequist.com
email: info@majkenenequist.com
Water sister
“I miss you, even though I don’t know who or where you are, but I can feel down to my toes that I miss you.”
Water Sister is the story of a girl who goes to investigate when she hears a big splash in the water. She dives after it and underwater she meets a large magical fish that invites her to swim into its large mouth. Curious, she swims into the dark depths and meets … her water sister! How happy they are to be together and how good it feels. But when the sisters want to get out of the water together, they find that they cannot.
It is a fairy tale story of loss, a journey of discovery and farewell.
Water sister is based on Majken’s own story. She discovered in adulthood that in the womb she was one of a twin, which, among other things, explained for her the feeling of a great loss that she had been carrying all her life without understanding it. Research indicates that 1 in 10 people were one of twins or multiples before birth. The story “Water Sister” offers parents and children dealing with this topic a way to make a sad subject discussable in a light way.
The Encounter
“
I have looked for you in all faces
I have found you in every smile
I have written to you in all the poems
I looked for you today and every day…”
This is the story of a girl who discovers her reflection in the water and wants nothing more than to stay together forever. But how do you embrace your reflection?
The story is worked out in a leporello and the text is a longer version of the poem above. It is a story about meeting yourself, about feeling complete and about encounters that may only exist in stories.
The story came about as a result of an exercise in one of the classes at Venster Academy and is an earlier iteration of the same story that forms the basis for “Water Sister. This version of the story is dreamy and poetic; with Waterzusje, Majken instead explored the possibilities for the story as a fairy tale.
Three short stories
In addition to the two books, Majken created three more short stories this year, in which she played with narrative style, drew inspiration from autobiographical graphic novels and sought the tension between language and image.
The most wonderful time of the year
About feeling down at the holdays.
Hello, Goodbye
This story is set in late summer on a Utrecht canal and can only be told in pictures.
Endlessly
A childhood memory about an overwhelming sense of nothingness.
Other work