• In conversation with Coline Marotta

    In connection with Coline Marotta’s current solo exhibition 'Places in Between' with Brigade, we asked Coline about the context of the exhibition title, how space and time is present in her work, and what it means to paint a landscape (to her). This led to a conversation on passages of life that feel transitional, how the “windows” of her paintings serve as openings into becoming, and how depicting an actual landscape of her childhood home, is a way of asking herself how she belongs to it. 

     
    11 June 2025 I Studio views by Benedikte Kjærulff

     

  • Places in between is your third solo show with Brigade, following Keeping in Touch (2021) and Night Emails to Friends (2023). You’ve previously described your exhibition titles as being more about conveying the context and environment of their creation rather than directly describing what’s to be seen. Could you tell us about the context behind this title?
     
    Places in Between had the working title Coming of Age for a long time because I liked what this expression evoked. I wanted to talk about these moments of life that feel like in betweens, passages, like metamorphosis, growth or just pure confusion. However, maybe paradoxically, the paintings came from a moment of immobilism in the studio, and rather than putting it on the side, I decided to explore this state and paint that uneasy period. 
     
    When preparing for an exhibition, you paint multiple works simultaneously, building them little by little. Can you tell us how your paintings evolve through this process?
     
    What I enjoy with this process is that I leave the possibility for the paintings to keep on growing and that it allows me to spend less time thinking about the finished work, but mostly about the process and where I want to go. Because they sit in the studio for a long period I have time to look at them at different stages, and I like that intentions and directions can change throughout the process. The paintings are always moving in the studio and they all influence each other. By painting them all at the same time a link is created, they become like a small family building itself day after day.

  • In your recent work, especially in your latest exhibition with the gallery 'Night Emails to Friends', figures often appear in groups, sharing meals or longing together. Now, they seem more solitary, directly engaging the viewer. Can you expand on this shift?


    This wasn't something intentional but I saw it later on, that there was a change. The characters live in pairs in most of the paintings, they are not necessarily lovers but they share intimacy, rooms, looks. After painting a lot of longing characters having a strong introspective posture, eyes closed, arms surrounding etc., they have now entered a more active state. They are less inclined to solitarily reflect and are more interested in engaging with their surroundings. They look at us and at the world. It's an attempt to be more in action, possibly an urge.


    In your new work, many of your compositions resemble house-like structures where multiple scenes unfold simultaneously. What role do space and time play in your paintings?


    The home is a theme that is always in the back of my head and in this context it took the shape of actual house shaped frames in some of the paintings. We see different small actions depicted on the same canvas but they are not necessarily linked, and there are also areas that are not as specific or recognizable, like spaces for breathing or punctuations. 


    With time I started to think of all of these "windows" as layers. Foregrounds, backgrounds, and a bunch of middle grounds. They are transitional spaces, moments to become, moments in between, metamorphosizes. I do not depict actual events rooted in specific time and space but things that belong to the world of sensations, impressions, feelings. 


    It is a construction that I have used in previous works but I did not have the same intention with it - or maybe I did but I was not aware of it yet. This is something I find interesting as well, to go back to old motives and to reactivate them, so I can change the narrative, I can open it up.

  • You frequently return to the landscape of your family's home in the South of France. What draws you to this place, and what does painting a landscape mean to you?


    I started to be interested in the landscape motive in general when I went to France to work on the exhibition Night Emails to Friends. I was not only visiting but I was painting too this time, and changing the studio environment always influences what will exist on the canvas. While before the scenes were mostly set indoors, this exhibition was all set outdoors. 

     

    Looking back at previous paintings, I can notice elements evocative of the south of France but they are not specific places. For Places in Between, I intentionally chose to paint certain landscapes, not with the intention to present autobiographical elements but in order to conduct a reflection on what it means to be attached to a place, how does it manifestate? What is the link that one creates with a specific landscape or environment? Reading Se tenir quelque part sur la terre, Comment parler des lieux qu'on aime by philosopher Joëlle Zask had a great impact on me and helped me understand better as well have a critic view on notions such as heritage and feeling of belonging when it comes to land.
  • Looking around your studio and at the works on paper in this exhibition, it's evident that drawing is a big part of your practice. Do your paintings typically begin with a drawing, and how does drawing influence your process when preparing for an exhibition?
     
    For this exhibition I had periods where all I could do was draw, many scenes and motives without thinking much. It is accessible, I don't need much, I can go fast, there is an immediacy that I really enjoy. Drawing this time was an attempt to let go, step out of all the control-zones I sometimes build. I find answers and fields I want to explore in them. I selected some for the exhibition, also picking a few that are quite similar to certain paintings. It's like leaving space for the possibility to write another scenario, that nothing is immobile but is in constant change and movement, as well to talk about ambivalence one can experience. 
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