Spazio Nobile is pleased to present “Kiki van Eijk: The New Harvest”, an exhibition of new sculptures and textiles by the Eindhoven based artist and designer. “The New Harvest” will open on May 25, 2021 in the monument listed, Art Nouveau exhibition space of Lempertz Auction House, as part of Collectible program in the city.
Since establishing her studio in 2000, following her graduation from the Dutch Design Academy, van Eijk has produced a unique body of work that spans from furniture design to textiles to experimental art installations and works on paper. Her rich imagination and creative freedom bring a sense of wonder and play, while her connection to nature and the landscape grounds her work in the beauty of the everyday. An exquisite carpet inspired by the weeds growing through the paving stones in her gardens “Savage Flowers”, 2012 or a furniture collection “Textile Sketch”, 2011-2012 made with laser-cut metal but that looks like textiles, transforms how we experience an object, expanding our own imagination as we engage with it.
Drawing and sketching, which for van Eijk also includes collage, watercolour or, as she says, “any type of handmade thing,” are an essential part of her artistic process, and it is a way for her to remain free and spontaneous as she creates. This intuitive process is reflected in two recent projects, “Ceramic Wall Stories” and “Domestic Collages”, which will be on view in this solo show.
Both “Ceramic Wall Stories” (2020-2021), a collection of hand-built ceramic mirrors made while working as an artist- in-residence at the Dutch ceramics company CorUnum, and “Domestic Collages” (2020-2021), a series of hand-stitched wall hangings made while she was at home during the pandemic using her own textile archive, follow collage as her primary artistic process.
While in “Ceramic Wall Stories” it involves cut and paste slabs of glazed ceramic that build the object, in the wall hangings, we see her use of layering, texture, and pattern playing out in fabric. This corpus of playful and sophisticated unique artworks reveals van Eijk further blurring the boundaries between the freedom of a sketch and the final piece.
On view for the first time will be also a selection of “Ceramic Totems” (2020-2021), a new series of hand-built ceramic objects that include colourful tables and candlestick holders. Kiki van Eijk refers to these pieces as “Altars of Imagination,” in their free expression of form, colour and texture. This series conveys a sense of joy and possibility. There is no fixed plan for her as she begins to build the 2D and 3D shapes for these “totems”. Once glazed and fired, she brings them back to the studio to play around and build the final objects. There are endless options in this free-form approach to sculpture and ceramics.
Over the course of more than 430 years, Saint-Louis has accumulated 6,000 moulds in which molten crystal is blown by master glassworkers to prelude shapes.
This priceless legacy (some moulds are centuries old), preserved in the manufacturing warehouse inspired Kiki van Eijk to design a crystal lamp in the shape of a mould which— when gradually turned on by hand— would release a type of light similar to that emitted by molten material.
As it has the ability to form new life, it will be called “Matrice”.
Since Kiki’s first immersive visit to the manufacture, the “Matrice” collection has expanded with small luminaires and vases, including two exceptional pieces in clear crystal lined in colours.
Matrice Collection by Kiki van Eijk, Saint-Louis ©Jonas Marquet
Saint-Louis signs every day crystal creations –lightings, tableware, decoration pieces and furniture – crafted by master glassblowers and cutters considered to be among the very best in France (“Meilleurs Ouvriers de France”).
This solo show will be Kiki van Eijk’s first collaboration with Spazio Nobile Gallery, where she will concurrently be exhibiting in June and July 2021 in the gallery’s Studiolo.
She currently has a retrospective exhibition at Textielmuseum in Tilburg which runs through September 2021. In the fall 2020 she released a new book, “Imaginings | Kiki van Eijk.” Designed by studio& and published by nai010, the book looks closely at van Eijk’s artistic processes, particularly her use of sketches, drawings, and works on paper as a base for creating her unique artworks. The book highlights her talent, craftsmanship, and above all, her boundless imagination. “The New Harvest” is co-curated by design and art writer, Blaire Dessent (Editorial Manager, TLmag), who contributed with two texts to “Imaginings | Kiki van Eijk”.
