Canned emotions

Canned emotions is a series in which Martje Rullens puts her emotions in cans. It is a metaphor for how she sees life with emotions, in herself and others. In her opinion, there is still a big taboo on being open about your feelings.

“I see both in myself and in the people around me that there is so much pretending. I compare that to canned food. In the store I always feel attracted to the outside, but the moment you open a can, you usually see a content that is not as fresh and colorful as the packaging made you think.”

According to her, it refers to an age-old piece of advice; don’t judge a book by its cover… You can’t base your opinion on appearance or appearance. It is also about how difficult it is for people to express their emotions. The can represents being closed off and mystery. And then we as people also like to put labels on things. Canned Emotions can also serve as a way to express emotions and learn to understand them better.

The original drawings were made with felt-tip pens. The series has also been expanded to gouache paintings, spray cans, real food cans, stencil posters and illustrations,…

Canned emotions - published in Grote Nederlandse Kunstkalender

“Negative emotions often get hidden, behind a nice looking package of pretending. But what‘s inside the can?… “

Workshop

During this workshop, the participants learned how to design and draw their own emotional can using felt-tip pens and markers. Together, we’ve reflect on and visualize their emotions, making creative associations to bring them to life on paper. This workshop was hosted at Exhale TU Delft.