I’m Maria Fraaije, a Dutch artist/illustrator living in Rotterdam. I draw the natural world, and our small, scary or strange interactions with it.

I’ve been granted the Talent Development Practice Fund from the Creative Industries Fund, have been the City Artist of Rotterdam, exhibited drawings in the Kunsthal, and presented an audiovisual story about homelessness at Le Guess Who and in Museum de Fundatie Zwolle.

With an MSc in Industrial Ecology and 5 years of experience working as a sustainability consultant/researcher at DRIFT, I love illustrating your reports, presentations and projects in drawings that are suitable for a professional audience and full of feeling.

Past clients have been the TU Delft, the Rathenau Institute, Erasmus University, DRIFT, Stichting Wij.Land, the RVO, the VNG, and others.

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Exhibitions

Stimuleringsfonds Presents Talent, Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven | book, drawings, 2024

De Energie van het Oude Westen | Park West, Rotterdam | research, illustrations, 2024

De Kunsthal Rotterdam | Getekend: Rotterdam, ze hebben mijn huis vermoord | animation, drawings, 2023

Museum de Fundatie | Ongehoorde Geluiden | animation, drawings, 2022

Le Guess Who Utrecht | Ongehoorde Geluiden | animation, 2022

Bibliotheek Utrecht | Ongehoorde Geluiden | animation, drawings, 2022

De Leidse Sterrewacht | Museumnacht Leiden | animation, 2015

Press

“Met deze beelden moet de energietransitie meer divers en inclusief worden” | NRC | 2022

“Ongehoorde Geluiden van Maria Fraaije en Albert Hennipman” | Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie | 2022

“Help mijn huis wordt vermoord: Rotterdam verandert maar door” | Volkskrant | 2022

Education

MSc Industrial Ecology, TU Delft

BSc Biomedical Science, Leiden University

Prizes and grants

2023 Building Talent: basic funding for practice development | Creative Industries Fund

2022 City Artist Rotterdam | City archive Rotterdam, Centre of Visual Arts Rotterdam (CBK), Kunsthal Rotterdam

2022 Bouwen aan Talent met Huis van Betekenis | Creative Industries Fund

2021 Beeldkracht: beeldbank voor een inclusieve energietransitie | Creative Industries Fund