Mariska Koolen
Head of the family, fabric paint on handmade towels and washclothes, acrylic on serving plate, 2021
Foot wipes (element of Holiday), fabric paint on handmade washcloths, 24x20 cm, 2021
Holiday, fabric paint on carpet tiles and handmade washcloths, water and soap in oven trays, 300x300 cm, 2021
Holiday, washing feet
Zeeburgerdijk 109B,106B,103A, 99A, 99B en 99C, fabric paint on handmade towel, used by my nextdoor neighbors and machine washed, 157x90 cm, 2021
Paardenbloemen and Gatekeepers, acrylic on cotton, 180x290 cm, 2020, Masterclass Ad de Jong, Naarden
RCA degree show, installation view with collection of work, 2019, London
Vergaderpak, vinyl paint on stitched PVC, 250x600 cm, 2019, RCA degree show, London
Vergaderpak
This painted suit brings three bodies together. Participants can wear the suit, dressing and undressing simultaneously as a group. Feeling each other's hands on the ends of the sleeves often cause them to decide to hold each other's hands.
I wanted to make an outfit that limits physical movement and creates an image that combines posture with painting. Vergaderpak was my first attempt to combine painting with real life figures, so that I can create a structured but lively décor. This tension between a constrained figuration and a playful humanly experiment is something I would like to test and develop further.
Vergaderbekers, mouth blown glasses, 35x10 cm, 2019, RCA degree show, London
Abraham, his director Mariska and his Guest
Cambridge House, 2019, Croydon (UK)
03:00 min video: Documentation of an organized party for the Biblical figure Abraham. This work is inspired by Søren Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling. In this text Kierkegaard writes about the philosophical complexity and absurdity surrounding Abraham’s trial and his willingness to kill his biggest love, his willingness to let go.
This experimental event asks questions of abstraction, ritual exchange, narrative function and belief. Guests are invited by their hostess (me) to swallow and chew on shapes/colours, while simultaneously being playfully directed to physically move inside and outside the group structure.
Guests and director in Abraham, his director Mariska and his guests, 2019, Croydon, Cambridge House
Directing guests
Abrahams guests in Abraham, his director Mariska and his guests, 2019, Croydon, Cambridge House
Carpet in Abraham, his director Mariska and his guests, fabric paint on carpet tiles, 400x250 cm, 2019, Cambridge House, Croydon
Abrahams guests in Abraham, his director Mariska and his guests, 2019, Cambridge House, Croydon
Studio experiment: creating the color brown, 2018, acrylic on plastic sheet, Croydon
Breehornstraat 113, glazed tiles, light bulbs and plastered PVC tubes, 2017, Amsterdam, pictures by Sander van Wettum
