Marianne van Roode
Graduation portrait by Ido Menco 1994

Each work starts with the desire to capture what can barely be touched: a feeling, an emptiness, a suspended fragment of time.
I work with layers and transparencies, in the space between what is visible and what remains hidden

between matter, memory, and doubt — unfolds the tension that draws me in.
The gesture, a coincidence, an intention: all take part in a search without fixed answers.
My work does not aim to tell a real story, but to open a crack. A pause. An invitation to look more slowly.

Flower Final

closing the quadrature

Flower Series 4: 1. Poppy Flower 81x65cm

19. “Poppy takes care of you”
The baby looks at someone you can’t see, someone who projects its shadow that the baby doesn’t see, everything is a matter of perspective. In the end, it’s not such a big deal.

Flower Series 4: 2 Achicoria Silvestre 81x65cm

20. “Wild Chicory above all”
Are you, are you not, do you see, don’t you see, do you hear or don’t you hear, but you definitely don’t speak up. You can always whistle if you need something, Cory does its own thing.

Flower Series 3

Letting go

Flower Series 3: 1. Poppy 50x50cm

13. “Poppy lets itself be seen”
When the first petal falls, the wind carries it away, and finally, it flies high, so calmly within the noise of the storm.

Flower Series 3: 2. WildChicory 81x65cm

14. “Cory climbs Aalto”
It didn’t matter where, the waterfall is good for a ladder, and when it went, it left some very insignificant flowers on both sides. Do what you want, I’m out of here.

Flower Series 3: 3. Sunflower 50x50cm

15. “Sunflower goes away but keeps thinking”
Sometimes there’s no middle ground, just big jumps. The numbers hardly bother anymore, the petals turned to flames, the beast woke up, it’s got it all to go running.

Flower Series 3: 4. Tulip 50x50cm

16. "Liberated Tulip"
Finally, the moment has come to let it all go and enjoy - wildly, screw it all. It feels so good not having to fit in, form patterns, or please. Even if what’s underneath shows, who cares? We’ll clean it up later.

Flower Series 3: 5. Rose 50x50cm

17. “Rose, come on let’s go”
It’s okay, everything has its place, sometimes you remember but don’t understand, sometimes you understand but don’t remember, sometimes you neither remember nor understand. When you understand and remember, then it's time.

Flower Series 3: 6. Lotus 50x50cm

18. “Lotus gets lost”
Too much thinking isn’t necessary, sometimes useful, but most of the time it’s enough to observe and act with the confidence that you already know what needs to be known at that moment. The fish is surely bluffing.

Flower Series 2

The landscape within

Flower Series 2: 1. Poppy 50x50cm

7. “Poppy tries to levitate”
It thought that by moving its petals really strong, it could move upward. It forgot it had roots beneath the ground - warm feet come at a cost.

Flower Series 2: 2. Wild Chicory 50x50cm

8. “Cory crosses borders”
Approaching the intersection, it's unclear who has the right of way, and in doubt, it doesn’t stop. Going cross-country is more fun, and with hair flowing, the wind takes the best part.

Flower Series 2: 3. Sunflower 50x50cm

9. “Sunflower plays alone”
It struggles to count, the numbers dance, there must be some meaning to it, but it slips away. The numbers are too complex, 5 spirals of 100 each, who’s ever going to notice?

Flower Series 2: 4. Tulip 50x50cm

10. “Tulip breathing”
Here there’s still much movement beneath the surface, but with patience, one can appreciate a certain beauty, a certain internal garden, with its prickly mess, but still, a garden. It seems very hot outside.

Flower Series 2: 5. Rose 50x50cm

11. “Rose waits impatiently”
Thorns and strips, push and pull, seeds sprout and don’t know if they’ll see the sunrise. It could be so precious, but it didn’t want to show its face - sideways, just in case, let others figure it out.

Flower Series 2: 6. Lotus 50x50cm

12. “Lotus touches bottom”
A book with very ugly, horrible things, it happened, and stranger things have happened. Better let the water flush it away, fear clings. Floating is also a bit like flying.

Flower Series 1

start

Flower Series 1: 1. Poppy 50x50cm

1. “Poppy has a visitor”
The first of all, starting with some innocence: a graphic icon representing a generic flower, ended up acting silly, and in the end, it wanted to be a poppy with 5 petals.

Flower Series 1: 2. Wild Chicory 50x50cm

2. “Cory takes advantage of the wind”
It tries to tell a story but can’t remember. Here it makes its way through a crack, asks questions but gets no answers, time passes, and so does the breeze.

Flower Series 1: 3. Sunflower 50x50cm

3. “Sunflower counts the drops”
The first layers are wild, strong, big gestures that leave their mark on the surface. Then, layer by layer, the image emerges, the flower only finely imprinted on top of everything, unsure if it truly is.

Flower Series 1: 4. Tulip 50x50cm

4. “Tulip reveals its undercolor”
The most complicated of all, very protective and hard to reach, distant. It opens unwillingly, can’t help it, terribly theatrical, but shy. This one isn’t going anywhere.

Flower series 1: 5. Rose 50x50cm

5. “Rose looks away”
At first, it says nothing, it’s very pretty but shallow, so decorative, yet no one wanted it. It decided to look inward.

Flower series 1: 6. Lotus 50x50cm

6. “Lotus in an instant”
Nothing much to say, it floats and moves slowly with the currents. Once it was sacred, now it’s only appreciated for its pretty face.

Portraits:

Opa van Roode 50x40cm
Portraits Group "Conversation" 55x33cm
Portraits "From the Tram" 20x25cm
Portraits "The Party" 20x25cm
Portraits "Araceli" 20x25cm

Others:

Commission Tryptich "Petronella Left Swan" 70x30cm on plywood
Commission Tryptich "Petronella" 70x40cm on playwood
Commission Tryptich "Petronella Right Swan" 70x30cm on plywood