justine lotus, previously known as Petz Scholtus, was born in Luxembourg in 1980. From the family farm she went to London to study Fine Art, with the dream of becoming a painter. However, her practical upbringing on the farm influenced her during her foundation course at Camberwell School of Arts. She felt she should study something “more useful” and changed course to study Eco Design at Goldsmiths College. From London she moved to Barcelona in 2004, where she enjoyed working as a sustainable designer and entrepreneur for many years. Early on she was invited to America Sanchez’ Club del Dibujo where her passion for drawing was reignited. She started to dedicate more and more time to drawing, but it wasn’t until she entered Cesar Manrique’s museum workshop in Lanzarote in 2018 that it struck her: this is how she wants to spend her time on this earth.

In 2020, thanks to a pandemic and an ill body, Scholtus underwent a kind of personal and professional metamorphosis. She changed her name from the masculine nickname “Petz” to her feminine middle name “Justine” and took the “sch” out of her last name, which brought out the Lotus flower. With this name change the artist found the energy to shed old beliefs and embrace a new found liberation, inspiration and empowerment, as well as the motivation to live life as an artist.

lotus currently has her workshop in Barcelona, where she mostly works with Chinese ink and paper. Her work is influenced by different forms of meditation and the study of sumi-e under the guidance of Maria Eugenia Manrique. Inspired by this ancient Chinese way of painting, lotus’ expressive brush strokes are set in white space. Her compositions carefully balance ink and space to offer a lightness of being, not just for the artist, but also for the viewer. Confident lines and hazardous ink spots create dynamic visuals that contrast with serious messages. Becoming a student of Muditosan to learn the art of Arun Conscious Touch, a massage technique based on Osho’s teachings, is further shifting her work and finally opened the door to the abstract.

Some of lotus’ current areas of work are: abstract automatic drawing, capture feelings that occur when taking energy altering substances or listening to music; nipple art with the aim to support various areas of feminism; a visualisation and recording of her monthly blood; experiments with ink and rain; in memoriams.

She loves to receive guests at her space in Barcelona. She welcomes every opportunity to connect because she is excited to introduce her work into other people’s lives

justinelotus.com