Tell us about your approach to photography, how it started. What are your memories of your first shots?

Marleen Sleeuwits (MS): When I was fourteen I started a photography-course at a local community centre. I mostly took portraits of friends in a home-built studio in the attic, using all my parents lampshades. I was very lucky this class was taught by a very passionate photographer. He made me explore all kind of techniques and genres and I could always use his equipment and dark room. Thinking back at it he was probably the best teacher I ever had. So after highschool it was not hard for me to decide what do next: art school. Luckily I got accepted at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague being just seventeen.

© Marleen Sleeuwits, Interior 45

How did your research evolve with respect to those early days?

MS: Art Academy was a lot about learning techniques and writing down concepts. The downside for me was that I didn’t really learn to explore my own style and interests. This was something I missed once I got graduated and it was the reason I applied for  a master in Breda. Since then my work has followed quite a focused trajectory; from photographing architectural spaces, to constructing them myself, to eloping from the photographic frame altogether into physical space itself. It’s actually quite recently I have found my own approach and I learned to trust my intuition more. This was very liberating because my process is now much more organic: Making and thinking simultaneously, so I guess that’s much more like it was when I was fourteen.

When photography is a (sub)division: how is photography related within your work?

MS: Although photography is still very important in my work the actual ‘taking-photo-part’ is becoming less and less. Mostly I work for weeks or even months on a space: constructing, painting, drilling etc. I always take shots with a digital camera to see how things work out 2-dimensionally and once I’m satisfied I take just one shot with my 8 x 10 inch camera.

© Marleen Sleeuwits, Interior 42

What do you think is important for the emergence of your work? What makes a picture a strong image?

MS: To me it’s important that one photo tells a specific part of the overall concept I’m trying to get across. In one work it can be more about materials and in another it can be more about scale and how you relate to space as an individual.

About your work now. Can you describe your personal research in general?

MS: I let the elements in the interior/ office building guide me and that is the starting point of my work. I work with materials I encounter there. Also I have a lot of ideas which I make sketches of or that I write down. Most of the time I start with one of these vague plans. While I’m constructing the space I always take pictures with a small digital camera to see if things work the way I want. This is seldom the case so then I keep changing the space until all pieces come together. This process is quite intuitive.

© Marleen Sleeuwits, Interior 42

What are your considerations?

MS: In my photography and objects I research interiors in which you don’t feel connected to a specific place or time. It is a conflicted feeling that certain places can evoke inside of me.

What is your main source of inspiration?

MS: For me inspiration can come from many things. From just wandering through empty buildings to visiting a hardware store to endless surfing online.

Is there any contemporary artist or photographer, even if young and emerging, who influenced you in a way?

MS: I don’t know if I’m influenced but I have for a long time loved the work of Lynne Cohen. She also took photos of interiors which are really surreal. Nowadays I enjoy artists like Andre Kruysen, Michiel Kluiters, Katja Mater or Anouk Kruithof because they search for the boundaries of photography. They combine photography, sculpture with installation and drawing.

Tell us about your latest project ‘Interiors’

MS: Recently I have been deforming spaces in vacant office buildings. I investigate whether I can reconstruct certain qualities of the interiors I photographed previously. I let the aspects in the interior guide me when working with materials I encounter there. These are usually non-durable materials like sticking tiles, false ceilings or insulation material.These materials give the interiors the capability to change their identity rapidly.

Rather than photographing existing architecture, this way of working enables more psychological spaces to appear that convey the feeling of disconnection in a more personal and profound manner. The images create a place with something in between reality and illusion. As if there is a gap between seeing what is there and what is not. In my spatial works and installations this experience becomes even more tangible. 

© Marleen Sleeuwits, Interior 40

Which projects are you working on now and are there plans or ‘needs’ for the future?

MS: For a few years I’ve been thinking about making a photobook but I always saw too many obstacles. In my photoworks scale and the actual sizes are crucial to the experience of it. I had no idea how I could get these aspects across in bookform. If I just put the pictures in a book this important aspect of my work would completely be lost. Last summer I came up with the idea to build an enormous maquette, scale 1:6. This maquette represents a fictive exhibition-space where all my work is displayed. Flipping through the book will seem like you walk through a real exhibition. I love the idea that the maquette solves the problem of scale and even brings an a extra layer to my work.The book will be launched at the end of this year by Onomatopee Publishers. Besides this huge project I’m working on my first solo show in my new gallery FeldbuschWiesner in Berlin. This exhibition will open this coming december.

Is there any show or film you’ve seen recently that you find inspiring?

MS: I just saw the solo exhibition of Geert Goiris in Foam and loved it!

One to three books of photography or art that you recommend?

1. ‘Multiple densities’ by Katja Mater; 
2. ‘La Hütte Royal’, 2013 by Thorsten Brinkman
3. ‘New scenes’ by Esther Tielemans

How do you see the future of photography in general evolve?

MS: I guess this world becomes more visual so I think the language of photography becomes more and more diverse and therefore more interesting.

© Marleen Sleeuwits, Interior 2

What do you think about photography in the era of digital and social networking?

MS: Personally I use Facebook to give people insight in my process, inspiration and thoughts behind my works. I think it’s a great way to make my work more accessible. And of course I use it to tell about upcoming exhibitions.

How do you combine your work and private life?

MS: At the moment this is quite hard actually. I have a son who is one and a half years old and and I am expecting another baby in a few months. In the meantime work didn’t get any slower, so this means there just isn’t enough time for all the ideas and plans I have. I find it annoying that practical things always seem to go on and that new things at the studio come last. Also visiting exhibitions from others is something I don’t do as often as I used to but one day, one day I will have time…

© Marleen Sleeuwits, Interior 38

Do your prefer to work alone or as a team?

MS: Most of the time I work on my own and I must admit I love it that way. Over the last  few years I occasionally have had an intern to assist me; helping out with practical matters like building installations. That’s always fun and very efficient especially in times, like now, when a lot needs to be done. At the moment I am working on my first publication and on a big solo show. Despite the fact that working together is more efficient I feel I come to better ideas when I work alone. So this is a dilemma.

So is it hard to manage all the deadlines?

MS: Actually I’m quite good in planning my work and meeting deadlines. This is because my character is quite chaotic and stressed. If I don’t organize everything very well my head is overflowing quite fast. So you won’t find me installing my work the night before an opening. The last couple of years in addition to my daily to do list I also make a schedule for one year, most of the exhibitions and big projects like the book launch are scheduled way ahead anyway, and this helps me to keep an overview.

© Marleen Sleeuwits, Interior 39

What about locations for your works?

MS: Over the years I have made many connections with anti-squad organizations and many office buildings in The Hague are empty. If I have to leave a certain place most of the time something fitting comes along quite soon. I also try not to make to many demands and let the restrictions I find guide me to make new works.

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LINKS 
Marleen Sleeuwits  
The Netherlands