Marjan Woude

Marjan sculptures mostly of animals. The underlying theme in all her work, however, is the human experience. Animals are used, like characters in a dream or story, to explore and give expression to it. She loves their infinitely varied forms and the power of their image. Nursery rhymes, proverbs and stories all use this same process, and she often visits these literary sources to find the right animal for what it is she needs to look into. Often too, these stories serve as a starting point for series of pieces such as the fox and the cockerel from Chaucer’s Nun’s Priest’s Tale, or the characters populating nursery rhymes (such as Old Mother Hubbard’s dog.)

Besides exploring these layers of meaning, she engages with the material (be it clay, wax, cardboard, bronze or steel) in a way that is forever playful and never predictable. Each piece is open ended; the material is allowed its voice and each sculpture is an adventure. The surfaces thus arrived at are testament to the process of creation, revealing layers of imprinted texture, drawing and re-drawing. What a fitting artist to welcome to the forest!