Having trained as an occupational therapist, she is mainly self-taught in textile art. In following her husband when he worked abroad, Marjolein gained insight into different cultures and a broader view of the world. Starting out as a quilter, first traditional and then later with her own designs, she made big textile portraits and took part in exhibitions in Austria, Bolivia and Thailand. Marjolein creates art from textiles, paper, vintage pictures and all kinds of other materials that can be stitched. These take on various shapes, from sculptures to flat surfaces, but always some type of special shape. By piling, stacking and through the use of transparent, sometimes voluminous fabrics, layering arises. Thus the figure, the shape that is perceived from a distance, gains new meaning when observed close-up. Text are her muses throughout the creation process. Marjolein integrates news items, historical facts or personal notes. Using different typographies, from block letter to my her handwriting, which renders both an informative and an aesthetic layer.