2018 #51
Interiors
by Marleen Sleeuwits
Selected by
LhGWR Gallery
Selected by LhGWR Gallery
INTERIORS
Interiors is an ongoing work that I have developed over the last 10 years. I have always been hugely inspired by places that are characterised by a lack of individuality and character, such as tower blocks, waiting areas at airports or abandoned corridors of hotels. Since 2014, I have worked prtimarily in vacant office buildings where I manipulate and transform space. My process centres around found materials, bundling together tube- lights and electrical cables; insulation blocks are melded with foil, foam polystyrene blocks, carpet tiles to create large, erratic installations. Sculpture add a secondary dimension, inviting you to touch, to explore. In my latest images I have used photographs of pipes, floors, bricks and tubelights and other tube-like substances as a wallpaper-collage. My aim is to make you feel detached from your usual grip on reality. I like to play with perception, creating an unreal quality which seems to exist between two and three-dimensional worlds.
EMPTY OFFICE ROOMS
All of the rooms I shoot in are located in the Hague. After the financial crises of the past decade there were so many offices standing empty, especially horrible, brutalist buildings from the 1970s. No one wanted to rent them so they were given to young artists or small, independent businesses. It was a good opportunity for me to experiment with this way of working without going bankrupt!
EXPLORING TENSIONS
To keep things interesting, my work keeps changing in form. Occasionally I start with a very clear idea, but often I just begin with something instinctive like cutting through a wall. If that initial move goes well I keep going until something magical or unexpected takes shape. After that I take the photos with an analogue 8 x 10 inch camera. I try and use digital intervention only for colour corrections, but sometimes the whole images is altered. Even though these rooms are barren and grey, I feel a strong attraction to them. My use of bright, sparkly colours shape an aesthetic immersion, which contrasts with the impersonality of the original space. I’m satisfied if people don’t know whether to love or hate my work.
