Interview
Merel Ellen
After finishing her masters degree in neuropsychology, Merel Ellen decided to change the course of her life and focus on the arts. She studied interior architecture at the art academy of the Hague, but along the way concentrated more and more on making her own visual art. She now works full-time in her studios in Amsterdam and France, making paintings and drawings.
Merel works mainly with acrylics, pencils, ink and photography on canvas and paper. As an artist, she is still very much interested in the human psyche, but she explores it from a different point of view, mixing information she gathers from very diverse sources.
Merel’s inspiration comes from literature, photography, nature, yoga, traveling, spiritual theories and beliefs of different cultures.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I have a masters degree in neuropsychology from the university of Amsterdam, and studied interior architecture at the Hague Academy. I always wanted to study fine arts, but was financially pressured into pursuing a scientific career. Once I finished my degree, I applied to art school, still taking the ‘safer’ route of applied arts. It wasn't until I was 35 that I had the opportunity to spend more time and energy on my own artwork.”
What inspires you most?
“I am inspired by living life, the things we encounter as humans, what it is to be human and to be confronted by and with ourselves, our tendencies, or triggers, our habits, etc.
I am inspired by psychological and spiritual theories, by past present and future. By possibilities. I love to listen to theories on the human psyche, both scientific and esoteric. But I also love to look at what is offered to us by coincidence and intuition. These last two aspects make the difference for me between a thought-out and stiff work, and something more mysterious with room for the soul to wander.
I am also inspired by guts, the way people live outside the standard norms; different thinkers, doers, dressers, travellers, etc. Anything out of the ordinary that was chosen not for the sake of it, but because it seemed the most sincere option.”
“I seem to find a story by adding images which at first seem very random, but along the way acquire a greater meaning. I enjoy that way of creating, because there is a greater aspect of surprise in it, even for me, the creator.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“I very often take a look at where I am in my own emotional development, and take that as a starting point to ask questions and explore a territory. Things have been shifting a bit lately; I've taken my stepdaughter’s emotional development as the starting point for my work.
Themes that return are often different worlds we seem to move in and out of, fluidity, transformation and water. Maybe more so the latter because I moved to France this year, to a region through which the river Meuse flows. She inspires me greatly with her beauty and savageness.
I also often find myself returning to archetypal themes, symbols that are not very literal, but hit a collective feeling or understanding.”
How would you describe your work?
“My work is intense and colorful, with a depth that holds a certain wisdom in it. It’s honest and even brave at times because of the merciless look it takes at the self, but with a little bit of humor to not take everything too seriously.”
Which artists influence you most?
“I am very fond of Danny Fox, Nick Cave, Louise Bourgeois, David Hockney, William Kentridge, Cyprien Gaillard, Philip Guston, Helen Verhoeven, Grayson Perry, Iggy Pop to name a few. This is a very incomplete list.”
What is your creative process like?
“There are different ways in which I start on a new work or project. Often, a starting point for me is the place I find myself in my emotional development. That means, which issues am I currently dealing with or working through. It might be that my partner points certain behaviors out to me. Or that I feel uncomfortable or dissatisfied with a specific area of my life. I try to analyze what the process is that lies beneath my discomfort and somehow understand the patterns a bit better.
I read about the subject, listen to podcasts and see what different people and beliefs have to say about it.
Sometimes, a simple sentence can give a lot of insight. Or it gives me a clear image from which I can start a sketch, drawing or painting. At other times, a photograph I made is the starting point of a work. The meaning of it will turn up along the way. I can’t predict when that will happen. It might happen in a day, or it can take months before something comes together. The quality of the work doesn’t depend on the amount of time or struggle I put in.
At other times, I might use a symbolic image as a starting point.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“An artist should be a seer of something that is happening in their time, or open up space for something new to happen. Artists share a vision about life with the world. It might be something very literal, regarding the visual senses, but it can also reach all the way to political views. For me, if art becomes too heavy in theory and words, it starts to lose its interest as an artwork, and I wonder if someone might not rather pick up a more verbal career.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“I am currently having a solo exhibition in Amsterdam, which you can see on my website. Unfortunately, many exhibitions have been cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.”
Website: www.merelellen.com
Instagram: @merelellenart
