The World According to Isabelle

Enter Isabelle de Borchgrave’s world, and something instantly softens — as if the space itself exhales. Though she passed away in 2024, her Brussels atelier still pulses with her unmistakable vision. At Chaussée de Vleurgat 73A in Ixelles, a tranquil pond — koi gliding in slow, meditative circles — remains the quiet heart of this posthumous exhibition.

Around this living centre, her creations unfold with a kind of effortless grace: paper kimonos drifting like silk in suspension, water-lily chandeliers glowing with an inner hush, imaginary trees stretching into dreamlike dimensions. These works don’t mimic nature; they reinvent it with tenderness and audacity. Her bronze pieces add a grounding counterpoint, bringing permanence to her otherwise ethereal universe.

Even without Isabelle physically guiding the studio, her presence is everywhere — in the calm precision of a fold, the whimsy of a painted petal, the global sensibility that blends Japanese serenity, European refinement, and a contemporary clarity that feels timeless.

For people who appreciate depth over noise, intention over excess, this exhibition becomes more than a tribute. It’s an invitation to recalibrate, to slow the pace, to let beauty work at its own quiet frequency.

As you move through floating silhouettes and shimmering botanicals, something shifts. Light softens. Details sharpen. You find yourself lingering — not out of obligation, but out of instinct.

The koi continue their gentle orbit.
You pause.
And in that pause, Isabelle’s universe exhales —
and, almost without noticing, so do you.

Until 18 December.

Address: Atelier Isabelle de Borchgrave
Chaussée de Vleurgat 73
1050 Ixelles, Brussels

More: isabelledeborchgrave.com