First the narrative, then the form

Creating a safe environment, communicating in way that the other person finds comfortable and intuiting how they feel – during her course, Merel learned a lot about such social-emotional aspects. She also discovered that she likes not having all the boundaries fixed in advance. Learning through doing, that is Merel's style. She chose the course in Arnhem because she was keen to learn more in practice and would have the opportunity there to do a lot of internships as part of the Visual Art and Design in Education course.

Telling a story through art

"There needs to be room for interpretation; I don't like it when things are too rigidly defined. At the start of the course, I was still very conscientious and I did all the assignments by the book. Now I start from a theme and I work with that. I have let go of the belief that I need to be good at everything; now I am much more concerned with the story I want to tell. The formal language or the form it takes then follows by itself."

Cherishing memories

The theme that Merel chose for her finals work is 'Memories'. She has always been interested in collecting and saving memories. She brings home boxes of shells with her from her holidays, and when she takes photos she likes to print them out to save them. "At the end of the third year of the course, I looked back at the work I had made. I realised that I am always looking back. I incorporate old photos of myself and of my family and photos from vintage shops in my art. There is a story behind photos; I wanted to do something with that", she says.

"Cherishing memories, that's what my theoretical work for the finals is about. It is curious how our memories work; the images are actually very alienating. Sometimes we link together things that may not have anything to do with each other; other times we may lose a connection. That strange way memory works fascinates me. In order to demonstrate it in my visual work, I made large collages of overlapping photos", she explains. There are ten canvases with photos printed on them making up a large installation. Merel made collages in Photoshop using old photos of herself, her family and ones she found in shops. Because the canvases are hung side by side, the visitor feels as though they are walking through a person's memory. Now and then, someone has been photoshopped out of a photo, just to show that a memory also has gaps in it.

Deeper into art

For Merel, the course offers not only a new way of making work but also an insight into her professional practice. "I always thought I wanted to teach, but during my internships I realised that many different forms of education are possible. As long as you are able to get something you know across to the other person, you are engaged in education", she says. After graduation, she will start a master's degree in Art History at the Radboud University in Nijmegen. She will also be teaching at a secondary school one and a half days per week. "That way I'll have the best of both worlds: gaining experience of teaching while also going into my art in more depth."

She has a tip for prospective students: "I think you shouldn't be afraid of not being good enough as a maker. It's okay to take risks. If you want to do the course, do it. Dare. It doesn't matter if everything doesn't work out right away: on this course, you get the chance to learn. Plus, you're not alone – I met so many great people that I feel very close to. That's a really valuable feature of the course."

Follow Merel

• Instagram: @Atelier.tuitert
• Email: Tuitert.merel@gmail.com