Milo van Sluis

G: As a multidisciplinary artist, how would you describe your work? 

M: “My favourite thing to do is to let my intuition guide me. I don’t start by thinking a lot about what I’m going to do, maybe just a basic concept or something. Then, I let it take over and just start with chaos, creating as much as possible and refining from there. I also like to come up with five ideas that come to mind and select the one that fits best. I draw almost every single day. For me, it’s like getting all my ideas from my head onto paper because otherwise, I would hold on to them. If you draw it, write it down, or paint it, whatever, it’s no longer stuck in your head. That’s kind of what I do every single day.”

G: How do you think your work resonates with the theme of development?

M: “I really have a thing for functional stuff because it reflects my personal growth and development. I combine that with a literal structure. I’ve always had this dream of becoming an architect and building my own house one day. Even if I don’t end up as an architect, I’m still determined to create something special for myself. So that’s why I made the work like that. The first level is where I grew up in Curaçao, on the ocean, on the beach, it’s just like being free, just sailing the water and having the islands in the distance. And then, there’s a stairway, kind of make-shift, and that’s kind of the base. It’s a wavy, unstructured, and DIY kind of vibe that becomes more concrete when we arrive in the Netherlands. Coming from Curacao was a big switch and it wasn’t something easy. I was feeling pretty young and here, everybody was doing everything, and they all seemed to be grown-ups. That’s what I came across, so being stuck in this situation drove me into gaming and that kind of stuff. In that time, I started gaming a lot and diving to find that freedom in games where you can build anything in Minecraft, for example.  Building stuff online was kind of what I’ve been into since I was a kid. In the work, you can see some rain and some moving boxes. In art, there’s always a way to go up, so I created a rope so you can go up to the next floor.”. 

G: How did you come up with the idea of your work that’s going to be exhibited?

M: “My intuition just guided me through the unknown to create this. That’s the foundation of what started this and then evolved into this art. I also wrote some storylines about all of this. This is the core of what I believe in, guiding the growth that I flow through. When I work, I see multiple ideas that I had in previous months that all combine into something. I wanted to do something with alternative reality because that’s a new space and for some reason they are stopping the software that I’m using. So, I wanted to try it out before it’s gone. And this one-of-a-kind experience brought me further into creating what I’m going to show at the expo. I found that by working on it, during the process I just saw all the Lego boxes coming together. So while I don’t think about the actual reasons, I just focused on the gratefulness while working on this piece. It is about what you’ve been through, so you can just be grateful in the moment of creating, while you’re working on something for your future. One of the floors on my work is about one of the Young Artists Event volumes, which was a very special moment for me. Eva came to me, asking if I wanted to join, and it was this thing where I worked for two weeks, non-stop. It was the first time that I showed my work to an audience. During the Corona times, I had a lot of free time and I picked up 3D animation and made this kind of showreel of all the animations I did in the 2 years of Corona. The YAE exhibition took place at the end of the pandemic, and I participated in it. When I saw people standing up and clapping, it hit me differently. It also motivated me to go further and try to reach more people. It helped me to see the value and uniqueness of what I was doing and moved me forward.” 

G: Do you have a clear goal that you want to communicate through your work? 

M: “I don’t exactly have a message, but I do think it’s about following your intuition and being more connected with your inner self. There’s a lot to success, and it’s about taking the right steps. To be honest, I’m not sure if I consider what other people feel when checking out my work. It’s mostly based on what I like. If it’s good, people will connect with it. Maybe that’s a little selfish, but I think that’s my way of staying true to myself and not worrying about what others would think about my projects.”

G: Even though you rely on intuition most of the time, do you think there is a correlation between the work style and the concept and topic you are working on? Some pieces are more colourful, while others are in a sketch format. Do you think that’s related to the topic you want to talk about?

M: “I think my sketch style is always pretty ‘processy’ or like, ‘growthy’. I consider it as an ongoing process. It’s never really finished, but it’s where I continue from. I begin with sketching and then move on to the actual work, but I always feel the need to display that process within the final result. I don’t want to only showcase the end product because I think the process itself is what should be most appreciated. After all, you spend 90% of your time in the process of creating, and only 10% showing off. For me, the real joy lies in the entire process and the satisfaction of doing it.”

G: When we were talking, you said you had your company called “Re-inspire”, and I found the whole concept interesting. Can you tell me more about the process of designing websites for brands?

M: “It’s deeper than that as the websites are only the result. It starts way deeper. We just did a fashion brand, called Stitching Stories that’s in Haarlem and their mission is to connect stories into their fashion. It begins with us sitting together and talking about what they are doing, we understand their vision and their goals, what they think they are doing, and how they are connecting with their customers and audience. Then, we combine that with our expertise and our vision. It’s also discussed where they want to go because if they’ve come to us, it’s most likely they have a problem getting to somewhere new where they have not achieved yet. So, we envision that, combining all the knowledge and all the elements to finally, structure that into a website. The website works for them as information, and we make everything super unique and one-of-a-kind. What we create is not something you see, it’s specially made for every client. It’s the very connection with rebranding, and I am currently diving into strategy and marketing to understand the details of growing a brand, not just creating something that can be used for growth because websites are tools. I want to learn how to teach our brands to utilise that tool effectively and help them grow. We have also created websites for friends, who started a coffee bar, and even one for my mother. It’s been a creative explosion of inspiration, and we are passionate about the impact we can make. This is my true passion—my real art.”