Danielle van Vree  1969 (Den Haag, Netherlands)

Danielle van Vree started her artistic career within the theatre. After finishing the theatre school in Amsterdam, she worked both as an actress and a director in the field of visual performance theatre. Some of the performances she made are: Damn If I (2002), Het vertrek (ze sluiten, omdat wij huilen) (2002) and Am I Blue (2000). In 2003 she started her first working period at the Rijksakademie.

The work of Danielle van Vree consists of films/videos (installations) and performances. These works focus on movements, gestures and acts of characters. The characters in her films often move in stilled choreographies. She attempts to present the moving image in a direct and clear-cut way. During her working period at the Rijksakademie she started to isolate act and place. This added a monumental character to the work. Moreover with repetition and doubling up of images she tries to cause a layer in time, space and the perception of the acts of the characters. Reoccurring themes in her work are death, desire, consolation and solitude. Within these themes she is looking for places to reflect on the self. The camera often plays an important role in achieving this. "I'm searching for intimacy and distance at the same time. I don't want people to be absorbed by the image and forget themselves, though at the same time I'd like to cause an involvement."