Through the Looking Glass

Even though Marijn is only 12, he has known for years that he wants to be an artist. And he has talent: he can transform the most mundane objects into something really special at the drop of a hat. In his words, "By looking at things differently, you think about things differently. So you can make them into something else." Marijn is a promising talent and has vision, so he gets admitted to a preparatory course at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. It's an exciting time for him, as he starts preparing for his first big exam. He is working on 3D portraits of his classmates that will form the basis of his first exhibition, to be judged by an expert jury. We follow this young but extremely serious artist in the run-up to his big day. Marijn struggles to get the portraits just right. The fact that his work will be seen and judged in an adult way by real experts for the first time is great, but at the same time it's complicated. How can he deal with serious criticism? And will his work be good enough to allow him to stay on at the art academy?