ACT OF A LINE

Act of a line is a series of unique but interrelated monochrome wall sculptures that function as serene yet captivating statement pieces within an interior. They stem directly from drawings, created by hand in an automatic, intuitive process, merely referring to themselves, or perhaps to the spirit of the moment they emerged from. Their shapes are free from worldly references, but allow for an abstract, yet narrative reading. In some works Marijke De Cock departs from fragments from her own automatic drawings, and then spontaneously and playfully reconnects them until they form a new ensemble. In close collaboration with a dedicated team of craftsmen in India, these drawings are transformed into tangible objects, adorned with a wealth of glass beads, and executed in either royal blue, gold, or iridescent oil black. The end result, provided with a cut-to-size wooden supporting frame, is typically the outcome of a single drawing. Marijke De Cocks work could be as much an ornamental part of a room as they are an escape from it, inviting you to visit their lustrous landscapes as a new reality, singular and unearthly, enchanting.

Marijke De Cock lives and works in Antwerp, where she previously studied Fashion at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. She has been working for years as a designer within the team of Dries Van Noten, where she specializes, among other things, in the conception and creation of exceptional ornaments and jewelry. This experience, in a sense, has inspired her personal practice. Indeed, she adopts an established craft that is usually related to the garment, which she allows to function autonomously. It is an ancient and traditional, time-consuming technique which she sensibly juxtaposes with her fascination for the hand that moves by itself, seems to make its own decisions, and transcends thought. It manifests itself in a distinctive series of abstracted, intuitive wall sculptures, adorned with beads. Above all these sculptures celebrate the desire to create, using a material that goes back thousands of years, motivating us from childhood onwards to invent ornaments with it, to embellish a person or a place.