Written by Guiliano Bolivar

‘I’ve made chocolate monochromes for a while and I love renaissance painting.’

As a 21 year old girl, Mirthe Klück is looking forwards to enroll her third year within the fine arts department at the Royal Academy of Art. Although good grades and attractively positive views on her work are on her side by now, things weren’t always crystal clear in her previous years at the academy. As she made a beginning in the institution in the fashion department, Mirthe had a curious and succesful inclination towards textiles specially; but in the end, it were her hidden 2D and 3D illustrative and creative talents that drew her towards the fine art way of working.

G/ The imagery you produce is quite atmospheric and therefore makes me think right away of a couple of artists, songs and melodies that would go perfectly along with it….Is music a big part of your work?

M/ No not really.

G/ So music does not inspire you?

M/ I guess a tiny bit then.

G/ What are you listening to at the moment?

M/ Anything foreign really.

G/ The slightly childish and dreamy humor aesthetic you give to your work makes me wonder wether you’re a melancholic or just a romantic; do you reminisce a lot while working on a project?

M/ Oh yes what a lovely question I reminisce all the time. The atelier is such a dreamy place isn’t it. To come back the first question you asked I think carrousel music is a big influence in my work.

G/ I noticed a lot of rotting miniature corpses in tiny formats, sort of morbid and yet really cute; is death an important part of your work?

M/ It is more about life and the presence of wings. It connects the lower with the above and back.

G/ Is there a particular reason why you place things in tiny boxes?

M/ Tiny things in tiny boxes are transportable because they are small. Small stuff needs protection from big stuff. You can help them out a little by placing them in boxes. In that way I sustain them just a little bit longer, before they eventually, just as all the other stuff, decay.

G/ There’s a lot of faded imagery in your work, are your projects ussually fixed in the past? or is it just your own view on the present?

M/ I would say they are timeless, with that I mean that they have almost nothing to do with my time here on earth. But I collect the images from my surrounding so they inevitably say something about my view on the present.

G/ In what kind of mood do you work best?

M/ When I am hungover.

G/ The school year is over, have you got plans or a slight hint of a new direction you might want to take in the upcoming year?

M/ Most certainly so, I am moving to Gent for a while to explore the contemporary Belgium arts and to experience my own work in such an environment. Also I will be spending quite some time trying to contact outer space dolphins.

G/ What do you love at the moment?

M/ Chocolate.