Look Again
What catches your
attention first?
Can you describe why this particular detail draws your attention?
Let your eyes travel across the artwork once more.
What only begins to reveal itself when you look for longer? What associations does it evoke?
Curatorial Reflection
This work rewards a slower gaze.
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What first appears as a single visual impression gradually begins to unfold into different layers, rhythms and relationships. Details that seemed secondary move forward, while other elements begin to shift in meaning.
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The longer you stay with the work, the less fixed the image becomes. Your own associations become part of the experience — creating a space between what is visible, what is suggested and what you bring to the act of looking.
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Sometimes, looking longer does not provide answers. It simply allows us to see more.
Story about this artwork
The title of this work 'Poise' suggests a state of balance — a moment of composure, held between movement and stillness. Yet balance is rarely completely still. Look closely and the work seems to hold a subtle tension: between what feels stable and what might shift, between control and openness.
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Perhaps that is where Poise finds its strength. Not in perfect stillness, but in the ability to remain present while something beneath the surface continues to move.
Poise becomes less a fixed state than a moment of balance — held, felt and open to change.
Discover the Artist
Mariëtte van Temmen creates work that invites curiosity, imagination and attentive looking. Her artistic practice moves between observation and interpretation, leaving space for the viewer to make personal connections and discover different layers within an image.
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Look one more time..
You have now spent more time with the artwork, considered three questions and discovered something about its background.
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Do you still see the same artwork you saw five minutes ago?
Discover more
Explore more works by Mariëtte van Temmen in the Viewing Room.
Step inside In Between the Lines and experience the exhibition in 3D
Discover the story, works and context of
'In Between the Lines'' .