Marie Bernard (Est. 2017, Rotterdam, Holland) is a collaborative practice between designer Masja van Deursen and artist Serge Game, whose work investigates the tactile interplay of colour and material through an intuitive, process-driven approach. Their practice bridges abstraction and figuration by cutting and layering coloured paper shapes without predetermined design, embracing imperfect overlaps as visual and physical tension points that reveal the analogue origins of their method.
Each piece is translated from layered paper collage into three-dimensional plywood constructions, carefully balancing colour relationships and preserving the human gestures and irregularities inherent in their initial compositions. Technically, the artists prepare each plywood base with multiple coats of bright white primer before applying 3–5 thin layers of acrylic paint, achieving vibrant colour saturation and subtle translucency. Their distinctive blacks are custom-mixed from multiple pigments rather than applied straight from the tube, resulting in nuanced tonal variations that enrich each work’s depth.
In addition to their plywood collages, Marie Bernard produces paintings on canvas that extend their exploration of colour and texture. These works maintain the same commitment to layering and subtle tonal variation, employing acrylic mediums to create richly nuanced surfaces that dialogue with their three-dimensional practice.
All works are meticulously hand-crafted, reflecting a dedication to materiality and colour as vehicles for expressive and sensory experience.