In her work, Sanne Maloe Slecht plays with the possibilities that the concept of ‘space’ entails. She paints her interpretation of space on two- or three-dimensional surfaces in a collage-like and humorous way, in which abstraction and figuration go hand in hand and in which there is no linear storyline. The artist sees this new space as a speculative landscape of a parallel world.

When she paints, she often thinks of concepts such as the multiverse or parallel universes. ‘I am inspired by the idea of multiple, co-existing realities. Or the idea of a reality, that exists out of our sight and has never been observed or discovered by us.’ Besides, she is also interested in the earthly concept of space. How we as humans create space in landscapes, architecture, interior, or during a walk on the beach, in our heads. Space offers possibilities. And this range of possibilities offers a continuous breeding ground for experimentation and playfulness.

Shaping and folding space is central to her practice. By taking parts of our reality and rearranging them into something new, she creates her own alternate universe. ‘My work can be seen as a rebus, a visual puzzle composed by combining multiple layers, surfaces, and painting languages into one whole. Absurd shapes fly, seep, leak and melt through the scenes. Sometimes there seems to be a way out of the labyrinth, at other times the way is blocked by a curtain, a fold, a structure or a floating cabbage.’

• Exhibitions at Galerie Bart: Art on paper Brussels 2023 • Got So Much To Tell You 2023 • Art on Paper 2023 • Play Doh’s Cave 2021.

Sanne Maloe Slecht, born in 1987 in Heemskerk, lives and works in Krommenie. In 2010, she finished her Bachelor of photography at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, and nine years later, in 2019, she graduated with a Master’s of Painting at the Royal College of Art in London UK. Since her graduation in 2010 Sanne has been highly productive and has participated in several exhibitions, residencies and publications, that exceed the borders of the Netherlands. Institutions that have exhibited her work include &FOAM and W139 Amsterdam, Gallery Bipolar and artist residency Pilotenkueche in Leipzig, Galerie der HFBK Hamburg, Parallel Art Fair Vienna, Hockney Gallery, Chalton Gallery and The Herrick Gallery in London, among other occations.

In her career, Sanne has already been awarded several grants and scholarships, including the Mondriaan Fund in 2021, Stroom Pro Onderzoek Research Grant, Hendrik Muller Fonds, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, the Netherlands and Royal College of Art Continuation Fund and A-N Time Space Money from London. Besides her artistic productions, Sanne has also been a visiting lecturer at universities. Sanne is represented by Frestonian Gallery in London and Galerie Bart in Amsterdam.

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2019 •
21.06 ArtMaze Mag Forming and Folding Space: In Conversation with Sanne Maloe Slecht by Layla Leiman.
19.09 NH Dagblad Kunst als ‘visuele rebussen’ by José Pietens.

2017 •
27.05 YNGSPC Sanne Maloe Slecht by Kate Mothes.