About

Artists Statement

Lotje van Lieshout, born in 1980 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, remained close to her roots throughout her life, never venturing far from the neighborhood where she grew up and completed her studies at the Rietveld Academie and Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam. In response to her strong attachment to her local environment, van Lieshout escapes into the creation of her own imaginative realms through various artistic mediums, including paintings, drawings, and short films. Jumping back and forth between digital and analogue techniques, she combines both traditional and contemporary digital mediums. Her work explores the tension between reality and fantasy, authenticity and artificiality.

‘My artistic research is driven by a desire to travel to the imaginairy places depicted in cinema, literature, and historical travelogues, and share my exploration of those non-existing places. My works invite viewers into a playful world of make-believe, challenging them to suspend disbelief much like in cinematic experiences. These illusory spaces serve as a sanctuary for me, where I feel unwatched longing for adventure.

My paintings depict artificial, human-made environments, painted in intense, technicolor-like hues. Many of my works evoke an eerie atmosphere reminiscent of abandoned film sets, leaving viewers to ponder what lies beyond the frame. For example the paintings featuring animals suspended in mid-air raises questions about whether these animals are alive or fake. After-hours scenes at the Natural History Museum portray craftsmen arranging displays to create the illusion of landscapes, mirroring my own methods. These scenes suggest the build-up of a theme park or staged environment where fabricated animals serve as props or decorations.

For my films, I meticulously construct sets using simple, cheap materials to create playful illusions. I draw inspiration from early cinema pioneers and their analog special effects techniques. Often, I appear as a solitary figure, clad in handmade eccentric costumes aimlessly wandering through my crafted sets. Combined with my serious demeanor, the scenes have a sense of uncanniness and awkward humor.

Presensinting my work, I combine various techniques and methods to create immersive experiences, ranging from nearly forgotten pre-cinema inventions to the latest technologies such as VR, AR, and CG. Notably, I invented a DIY VR device using an iPad in a periscope to present a 360-degree panorama painting inspired by 19th-century panoramas.

In my recent works, I designed sets with help of generating AI , speculating about a future where forgotten and abandond virtual worlds await rediscovery. I imagine a daily life in an obscure corner of the Metaverse, where digital food is prepaired and served in virtual kitchens and dining rooms.’

Lotje van Lieshout’s works have been exhibited in Museum Gouda, kunsthal kAdE in Amersfoort, museum De Pont in Tilburg, Festival Tweetakt in Utrecht, and the EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam. She won the Sybren Hellinga Prize in 2007, and her films have been screened internationally in London, Milan, Jakarta, Beijing, Bucharest, and Melbourne, but was censored in China

CV 2024

Lotje van Lieshout, Amsterdam, 1980

Education:

2007-2009 Sandberg Instituut, Fine Arts, Amsterdam
2000-2005 Rietveld academie, Fine Arts, Amsterdam

Solo exhibitions:

2023 The Permutable Snackbar Front Room, Amsterdam
2019 Virtual Dioramas NeverNeverLand, Amsterdam 2017 Expedition Gare du Nord, Amsterdam
2015 De Vitrine # 15 The Bookstore, Amsterda
2009 Ik ben een kapitein MuseumGouda, Gouda
2007 Hotel Zonder Dieren Kunsthuis Syb, Beetsterzwaag

Group exhibitions:

2024 Kunst aan ‘t IJ (TripleAProjects pop-up locatie ), Amsterdam
2024 Een winter aan zee, (Triple A projects pop-up locatie), Scheveningen

2023 Age-Fi 4TU.DU exibition area, Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven
2023 Salon 2023, Arti et Amictiae, Amsterdam2022 Brick Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort
2022 Prepshop Nieuw Dakota, Amsterdam
2021 Arti Salon Arti et Amictiae, Amsterdam
2021 Nieuwe Ledententoonstelling Arti et Amictiae, Amsterdam
2020 Wintersalon Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam
2019 Virtual Dioramas EYE Film Museum, Amsterdam
2019 Hommage aan de Zee (TripleAprojects) Visrokerij Scheveningen
2018 Diorama Knockvologan Into The Great Wide Open, Vlieland
2018 De Volgende Voorstelling (TripleAprojects) Theater De Appel, Scheveningen
2017 Blijf verwonderd (TripleAProjects) Priorij ‘Emmaus’, Maarssen
2017 A Visual Conversation: Input Party Neverneverland, Amsterdam
2017 Fish Film no1. #AmericanInResidence AVL-Mundo, Rotterdam
2017 Winter Art Rally (TripleAProjects) Pop-up locatie, Den Haag
2017 De Grote Nederlandse Kunstkalender Initiatief van Kantoor Kraaij, Rotterdam
2016 Water+Land+Kunst (TripleAProjects) KunstFort Asperen, Acquoy
2016 De verdwenen Micronauten Tweetakt, Fort Ruigenhoek
2015 First Paintings At Marianne Koks’, Amsterdam
2015 Rosetta Stone Paleis van Mieris, Amsterdam
2014 I’m not doing anything until I feel the need DNB, Amsterdam en OBA, Amsterdam
2014 How-To One minutes van Hans Aarsman De Pont, Tilburg
2014 Black Smokers en de Extremofielen Willemsparkweg 166, Amsterdam
2013 Het Pantoffeldiertjes Circus W139, Amsterdam
2013 The Origin of Cinema WeesperzijdeFilmFestival, Amsterdam
2013 Mobile One Minutes Cinema Garage CCA, Moskou
2012 De kunst van het machine lezen Perdu, Amsterdam
2011 Het huis van Betty Poulette In eigen atelier, Amsterdam
2011 Between Heaven and High Water Zeemanshuis, Amsterdam
2011 DoubleWork Sandberg Revisited Kunstkapel, Amsterdam
2010 YMUB Noord Holland Biennale, IJmuiden
2010 Human Condition KiK, Kolderveen
2009 VanLieshoutVanlieshout Kunsthal KadE, Amersfoort
2009 10x Van Lieshout Aanschouw, Rotterdam
2009 performance ‘Piloot’ RC de Ruimte, IJmuiden
2009 Strangers in Chongqing Organhouse Chongqing, China
2009 Zoo! Cultureel Centrum Corrosia, Almere
2008 Expositie nieuwe uitleenschatten Aa-kerk, Groningen
2008 World One Minutes Exhibition Beijing (gecensureerd), Brussel
2008 Jong Land Kunstroute Anna Paulowna
2008 Kunstvlaai Kunstvlaai, Amsterdam
2008 Art Amsterdam RAI, Amsterdam
2008 Het gonst in Arti Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterda
2007 Sandberg in Consortium Consortium, Amsterdam
2006 Het Vertrek Kunsteyssen, Alkmaar

Screenings: (selection)

Fish Film No.1
2017 Ammehoela Film Festival, FC Hyena, Amsterdam

Kapitein
2011 Weesperzijde Film Festival, Amsterdam
2011 Rocket Cinema, Artis Aquarium, Amsterdam
2011 North by Northwest Festival, Eye Instituut, Amsterdam

A World of Make-Believe
2007 ShortCircuit (#1.07): Surreal Settings, Filmhuis Cavia, Amsterdam
2007 Erasmus Huis, Nederlandse Ambassade, Jakarta
2007 Programma Filmbank
2007 Motorhalle, Dresden
2006 Where is the Love, Int. Short Film Festival, Bucharest
2006 Melbourne International Film Festival, Melbourne
2006 Portobello Film Festival, Londen
2006 C/O Careof, Milaan
2006 Kunstvlaai Amsterdam, selectie VPRO’s Nachtpodium
2006 Selection Dutch Shorts 2005, Holland Film
2005 8. Up-and-comming Int. Filmfestival Hannover
2005 Nachtpodium, VPRO
2005 Tent Academy Awards, Witte de With, Rotterdam
Artist-in-Residences:
2010 ‘Disorder’ KiK, Kolderveen
2010 ‘Walvis’ RC de Ruimte, IJmuiden. In collaboration with Wouter Klein Velderman
2007 ‘Hotel zonder Dieren’ Kunsthuis SYB, Beetsterzwaag

Awards and Grants:

2021 Corona-overbrugging individuele kunstenaar
2018 Project Grant for Artists, Mondriaan Fund
2013 Ramses Shaffy Art Project contest Noord-Zuidlijn (second place)
2009 Project Grant, Fonds BKVB
2007 Sybren Hellinga Prijs 2007
2005 Incentive Prize Fine Arts Gerrit Rietveld Academie

Commissions:

2023 Age-Fi, 4 short speculative films, commisioned by 4TU.Design United
2017 Short film Shredderman commisioned by Sanne Karssenberg eindpresentatie Sandberg Instituut
2015 Filming performance Between Four Walls by Ton Zwerver. C&H Art Space, A’dam
2013 Filming performance Tussen de lijnen by Miek Zwamborn en Ton Zwerver
2011 Trailer Theatervoorstelling Zwarte Gaten & Losse Eindjes commissioned by MarjoleinBaars
2010 The One Minutes videos commissioned by Rietvelds Universum, Centraal Museum,Utrecht
2010 Muzikaal Verhaal, animations for 3 children’s shows commissioned by het Rotterdam Philharmonisch Orkest. De Doelen, Rotterdam
2010 The One Minutes splitscreens (video) commissioned by IFFR en Filmmuseum
2008 The One Minutes videos New York for the City One Minutes
2008 The One Minutes videos commissioned by Amsterdam Historisch & Amsterdam stadsgezichten
2008 The One Minutes videos commissioned by het Glasmuseum in Leerdam
2004 Work in public space, commissioned by Gemeente Tiel

Teaching, Juries, Organisations:

2022-2023 Workshop animation, Practicum Generale, Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam
2021 Workshop Painting with iPad, Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam
2021 Workshop Special Effects with Zoom, Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam
2019 Workshop The Pioneers’ Special Effects, Sandberg Insituut, Amsterdam
2018 Workshops Analogue Special Effects, Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam
2017-2018 Tutor Fine Arts OffCourse Minerva Academie, Groningen
2017 Tutor Fine Arts Preparatory Year Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam
2016 Workshop Discovering Micro organisms Tweetakt 2016
2014 Guest tutor Basic Year Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam
2011 Curator 10 jaar SYB groepstentoonstelling in P/////AKT. Amsterdam
2010 Jury Sybren Hellinga Prijs 2010
2010 Initiator project De Kolonie voor Sandberg-studenten in Kunsthuis Syb
2009-2011 Programming committee Kunsthuis Syb
2009 Workshop City One Minutes, Chongqing, China
2008 Guest tutor Fine Arts Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam