My name is Marenne Hoeksema. I am a creative bookbinder based near Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I created my first book in 2008 during an Artist Book Workshop class at my art academy and fell in love with bookbinding. In the years since, I have taught myself all the bookbinding styles that sparked my interest. Since 2012 I share a workroom with my roommate, making creating and storing books a lot easier than working from the desk in my old bedroom. It also provided me with enough space to start experimenting with paper making and marbling. In 2013 I decided to move my online shop to Etsy in the hopes of reaching a wider and international audience.

Much of my work is centered around (re)imagination. I enjoy recycling materials like vinyl records, public transport tickets, computer parts, etc, and turning them into something brand new. Often, I simply fall in love with a material and really want to work with it. You can imagine then, that I am a bit of a collector. It often happens to be that I already have all the materials I need for a newly imagined project.
I love the challenge of thinking up new ways to use old bookbinding techniques in a modern way, thereby using technology like 3d printing and laser-cutting to aid me and open up a whole new spectrum of possibilities.

Whether you see my work as art or craft, my books are foremost objects to be used. A book is made to be read, to be written in. It is made to be passed down through generations. It’s a holder of information. If they ask, I tell my buyers this. Go ahead and start filling it with ideas. If my books are being used, they are doing the job I made them for!