Marlies von Soden

Capturing a moment in time

• Marlies makes polypropylene sculptures
• The extruder is her tool, just as a brush is for a painter
• Light illuminates her sculptures from within

Berlin-based Marlies von Soden worked on costume and set design for film and theatre for more than 30 years. At the beginning of the 1980s, she accidentally came across a material that would change her life forever: polypropylene. With the sole aid of an extruder, she creates one-of-a-kind 'light sculptures' that are cut from molten plastic: in less than 20 seconds she has to give the plastic a shape, before it cools and solidifies. At the end of a day’s work, 60 shapes are heaped on the ground, but Marlies will keep only five or six. The others, either because they are imperfect or not to her taste, will be thrown away.

Interview

©Lucie Jansch

©Uta Starling

How would you describe your work?

My work is closely connected to chance. I have to capture the right moment to cut, shape and fold the material. The structure is organic, and they are sculptures of light. Light makes the plastic transparent, it generates shapes, gives them a soul.

When did you decide to pick up this craft?

Working as a film architect, I was looking for a special material. By accident I found a unique off-cut, and was inspired to illuminate it. This was my first light object. After extensive research, I started my production in 1985.

How do you express tradition and innovation in your work?

As a costume designer, I am influenced by the traditional representation of drapery in art, which informs my sculptures. The innovation I bring to my work is through the use of an industrial extruder.

Do you master any specific techniques?

I use my hands and my intuition to create my works. I consider my skill to be the ability to organise coincidences. I am the programmer of this extrusion machine and when I make work I feel like a midwife at a birth.

Marlies von Soden is a master artisan: she began her career in 1967 and she started teaching in 2017

Works

©Marlies von Soden

©Manfred H. Vogel

©Alexander H. Schulz

©Alexander H. Schulz

Where