Studio Sanko is the artistic practice of Julia Elisabeth van Emmerik, a visual artist whose work explores the intersection of architecture, image and spatial experience. Through her work she investigates the relationship between people, atmosphere and the spaces they inhabit.
Julia grew up between Finland and the Netherlands, two landscapes that differ greatly from one another. In Finland she experienced phenomena such as the midnight sun, a period during summer when the sun barely sets. Experiences like these made her aware of how light, nature and environment influence the way people perceive and experience a place.
From an early age she developed an interest in photography as a way of capturing light, atmosphere and fleeting moments. Through photographing landscapes and architecture she became increasingly fascinated by the way spaces can evoke emotions and carry narratives.
Later she studied cinema, specialising in production design. In film, the design of space plays a crucial role: the way sets, materials, colour and light are used can shape the emotional tone of a scene and support a narrative. This experience provided her with a deep understanding of how spatial composition can influence perception and storytelling.
Alongside her studies she worked at an interior construction company, where she became involved in the process of designing and building spaces. This introduced her to the physical and material aspects of spatial creation and expanded her understanding of how ideas can translate into built environments.
During her Master’s in Interior Architecture she explored the parallels between cinema and architecture and discovered how both disciplines construct narratives through space, rhythm and atmosphere. Her experience working in the art department for film sparked a lasting fascination with the relationship between space and human emotion, a curiosity she has continued to explore through research and design. Her transition from cinema into interior architecture grew from a desire to create spatial experiences that are not only temporary or staged, but lasting in their emotional and narrative impact.
This interdisciplinary background has shaped her into a research-driven designer. Each project begins with analysing context, meaning and narrative potential. From there she develops spatial concepts that aim to be both functionally strong and emotionally resonant.
Today her practice takes form primarily through visual art. Drawing from architectural and cinematic thinking, she creates artworks that investigate how atmosphere, perception and narrative emerge from the relationship between people and their surroundings. Working across different media and forms of artistic research, her work approaches space not only as a physical condition but also as an emotional and experiential one.