Valerie's research into this alleged border has been ongoing since the fall of 2023. During a series of island visits, she interviews a number of distinctive residents of Vlieland about what they know or feel regarding this separation. In the months leading up to the festival, she publishes a series of blogs that will appear on Mister Motley and on this website. 

About Valerie van Leersum
Valerie van Leersum is an artist, designer, and local explorer. Through her work, she explores the relationship between humans and landscape. How does the landscape shape the human, and how does the human, in turn, shape the relationship with the landscape?

For this purpose, she creates images and installations composed of various media. Sometimes the images stand alone; in other cases, they are part of an installation or polyptych. The work can be read as a quest for a deep connection to a place. It moves between the 'factual' history on the one hand and the subjective experience on the other. For many of her works, she collaborates with scientists and other professionals from various backgrounds. Starting with an artistic research, she aims for a poetic abstraction that invites the viewer or participant to navigate between personal experience and the broader context of a phenomenon.

Valerie has exhibited her work in art and exhibition spaces, realized site-specific installations, and participated in various artist-in-residence programs. In recent years, she has collaborated with Prorail, the North Sea Embassy, CBK Zuid-Oost, the Municipality of Amsterdam, the City of Genk, the Kibii Foundation Suriname, Stroud Valley Art Space, Museum de Fundatie, and the Oerol festival. Currently, Valerie is an 'artist in residence' at Kunstfort Vijfhuizen. 

Valerie van Leersum - https://www.valerievanleersum.nl/works.html

The art program of Into The Great Wide Open is made possible with support from the Creative Industries Fund and De Versterking.