Marlijn Franken

Marlijn Franken works and resides in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Earlier work as an independent fashion designer laid the foundation for Marlijn’s vibrant visual art; textile sculptures, wearable art, (video) installations. All her works are created within the boundaries of an exhibition space and/or theme.

A returning element in her work is collaboration. Working together with artists from all over the world who specialise in other disciplines forms an endless source of inspiration. This diversity has been an immense contribution to her artistic development.

In 2007, primarily out of the need to register her own visual arts projects, she started filming. At Open Studio, in 2012, she followed the one year course in video journalism / all-round filmer in order to professionalize her filmmaking. Her short films have subsequently been showcased at several (inter)national film festivals, exhibitions and museums.

In the period that followed, Marlijn’s main area of expertise became documentary shorts and lyrical, poetic art videos that flow freely without the confines of a specific storyline or scripted text, often in collaboration with composers and performance groups. Part of her signature during this period - with a small pro HD video camera and / or a video drone, making strict use of only existing light - was in herself assuming all the other roles necessary to support her camera work, like doing her own sound, direction, editing, etc. Her artist’s eye is an extra in her work. Marlijn: ‘as an artist, you just have a different way of looking at your surroundings'.

In addition to her free work, Marlijn also makes videos on assignment: online video, personal portraits and event registrations. And also here her motto applies, of life often being ‘interesting enough’ as it is, meaning that she will seldom stage a scene. For her, reality holds ‘an everlasting source of inspiration’.