Marlien Venema lives and works in Koog aan de Zaan, a town near Amsterdam. She studied graphic design at the Willem de Kooning Acadamy in Rotterdam and fine arts at the Koninklijke Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten in The Hague, Netherlands.

People and landscape play a central role in the work of Marlien Venema, in which she explores a sense of freedom, paradise and adventure. The inspiration for the paintings are her memories from her childhood in Africa and the rural countryside in the Netherlands, packed with curiosity, explorations and play. She paints this longing to freely venture into worlds of wonder.

But while travelling you can get homesick or risk being lost. These are related themes also appearing in her work. In some paintings a distance to the figure emphasizes a feeling of loneliness. In others paradise will be pictured by the display of the home or household objects. Together her paintings form a story of a journey or maybe even a quest.

These stories can be considered universal themes that can be told in many different ways. In a fast changing world we need to choose whether to stay with the old or try new ways. These choices are never easy. Either staying or going will take courage which we often do not have. We do it anyway and hope things will  be ok.

Marlien Venema starts her work usually based on parts of found photographs. She is for instance attracted to old photographs of the first explorers and patterns in traditional clothing. The use of photo negatives amplifies the feeling of nostalgia and distance in the image. To give the paintings power Marlien Venema often uses penetrating colors such as fluorescent acrylic or ink with a lot of pigment, which suit her personality. Together with a loose brush stroke she tries to complete the feeling of alienation and romance.

Education:
Nieuwe Academie Utrecht 2018 (post academic year led by Frans van Tartwijk)
Koninklijke Academie Beeldende Kunsten The Hague 2004-2008 (fine arts / painting)
Willem de Kooning Academie Rotterdam 1992-1996 (graphic design)

Other:
member of the art collective Art Allies
member of the art collective Tengel
previous: treasurer of art collective Stichting Popinnart (2019-2022)