The work of Marlike Marks (1984) explores how attention can reshape our relationship to time and environment. Her practice is grounded in simple, self-imposed rituals repeated over extended periods. By continually returning to the same places, subjects, and routines, her way of seeing gradually shifts. What is familiar does not change, but is seen differently.

Her work moves between photography and performative practice, where seeing, acting, and repetition are inseparably linked. Photography is not used as a means of capturing exceptional moments, but as a way of remaining present and re-perceiving the everyday.

Marlike Marks lives and works in Rotterdam. She graduated with honours in 2015 and continued developing her practice through postgraduate programs at the Photo Academy Amsterdam and Breda Photo. Her work has been exhibited widely in the Netherlands, including at Rotterdam Photo, Huis van de Fotografie, De Doelen Art Studio, and Fotofestival Naarden, and has been published internationally. She has received several awards and grants, including the Jury Prize of De Kracht van Rotterdam in 2018.

Her work is held in various private collections, has been acquired by Bureau Financieel Toezicht, and is included in Stadsarchief Rotterdam.

STATEMENT

“The longer I look, the more I see.

Being present is never a given; it asks for surrender, for a willingness to truly be there. Only then does the ordinary reveal itself as extraordinary, not because it changes, but because my attention deepens.

Continually returning to the same places, slowly reshapes what I see, and how I relate to the world. What first appears mundane is in constant motion. Time is no longer something that passes, but something I can inhabit.

My work starts with a self-imposed rituals. Not as a way of creating limitation, but as a framework within which attention can emerge. Through simple, repeated gestures — photographing the same sky each day, returning weekly to familiar landscapes, routes, or people — what shifts is not what I see, but how I see. What is known does not become less interesting, but increasingly layered.

For me, photography is a way of remaining present. What I create are traces of this ongoing attention. Ultimately, my work is about staying. About looking without the need to conclude. About allowing something to reveal itself only when you remain long enough to see it.”

UPCOMING

North Sea Jazz Art
With Ballon Rouge Gallery, Ahoy, Rotterdam
10 – 12 July 2026

Present Tense – A Practice in Attention
Installation at Ballon Rouge Gallery, Rotterdam
6 – 23 August 2026

The Unfixed Line
Ballon Rouge Gallery, Rotterdam
11 – 28 September 2026

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