Maria van der Togt (b. 1997, Haarlem)
@mariavandertogt
Mail: info (at) mariavandertogt.orgis a figurative painter whose work centers on moments of suspended time. With a background in interior architecture (MA, Sandberg Instituut, 2021), her practice draws from theater- and set design. Techniques that are meant to convince an audience that they are somewhere else, find a different role in these works. Canvas becomes brick, paint becomes stucco, but it’s all left unperformed, suspended in waiting. Theatrical tricks without
the drama. The viewer stands in for absent actors, and the painting becomes a stage where something is always about to happen… but we’re left waiting. Time feels held, as if it could slip but chooses not to.
Alongside her studio practice, van der Togt is active in arts management, working at the Creative Industries Fund NL, the Dutch national fund for design, architecture, and digital culture. She focuses on the Talent Development grant, guiding 50 emerging artists and designers annually. She has produced and curated shows at Dutch Design Week and the Nieuwe Instituut (Museum for Architecture, Design, and Digital Culture).