Inspiration & Origin
Marjolein Marx is a Dutch artist and founder of Atelier Marx in the Jordaan in Amsterdam, established in 2023. Her work is driven by the beauty of contrast where vulnerability meets strength, harmony meets tension, and stillness meets transformation. This fascination with duality is the foundation of her artistic practice and forms the core identity of Atelier Marx.
Creative Process
Marx’s process is rooted in contrasts in nature. She travels to landscapes that appear serene and awe-inspiring on the surface yet hold quiet tension beneath; places where beauty and fragility collide with danger and movement. Each painting begins with a Polaroid photograph taken on location, capturing an unfiltered moment of the landscape. These images become emotional and conceptual anchors that shape the artwork. Her work reflects the contrasts found in nature while mirroring those within the human experience.
Materials
Marx not only observes the landscapes she paints, she physically incorporates them. She collects sand and stones from each location, grinds them into pigments, and embeds these minerals directly into the layers of the artwork. The textures of the earth – grains, dust and fragments of stone – become inseparable from the painting itself. The landscape does not merely inspire the work; it lives within it, making every piece a tangible fragment of place.
