Marlen Letetzki studied Fine Arts at Universität der Künste and Philosophy at Humboldt-Universität in Berlin, with an Erasmus semester at Chelsea College of Art and Design in London. She studied painting in the classes of Pia Fries, Gregory Cumins, and Christine Streuli. Her work has received awards, including the Meisterschüler Prize and a scholarship from the Dorothea Konwiarz Foundation.
She has been teaching since 2020 and, in 2024, was appointed Professor of Experimental Design at HS Trier. Her works have been shown internationally in solo and group exhibitions.
I use the tools of classical still life painting to transfer digitally created objects into a new reality — one that deliberately blurs the lines between virtual construction and painterly precision. In a digital process, I first model these objects in a 3D software, arranging and staging them virtually. This approach allows me to rethink the materiality, structure, and symbolism of objects within an abstract space and to compose them with precision. I then translate these digital arrangements onto an aluminum canvas.
The painterly process grants these initially virtual objects a physical presence, creating a subtle tension. Though the objects seem “real,” their digital origins remain evident, prompting questions about the nature and authenticity of objects and their representation. In this transition from digital to painterly, my works evoke worlds suspended between artifice and realism. They navigate the boundaries between the natural and the modeled, inviting reflection on the role of digital media within traditional painting.
