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Marjan Veltkamp www.marjanveltkamp.nl

Fields by Marjan Veltkamp

By 16-01-2020

The Royal theme and the space itself inspired Marjan Veltkamp to create three different works of white wool felt for Masterly the Hague They will hang in front of the windows of the historic room on the first floor of the Lange Vijverberg 15. One of those architectural works elegantly spreads out over the floor like a veil of a royal wedding dress.

Here the 17th century paintings from the collection of Hoogsteder & Hoogsteder come together with new works from contemporary designers, artists, photographers and fashion designers, curated by Nicole Uniquole. The graduation work of fashion students at the Royal Academy of Arts The Hague (KABK), in particular the white dress with brocade and faux fur by Yulia Hmarnaia, inspired designer Marjan Veltkamp to create three new works, each about four meters long, for three high windows. Hereby she plays with her characteristic designs, in which the residual form is just as important as the form itself.

It is the first time that the textile designer has made decorative work for a window. This allows her to play optimally with the light effect between the sunlight and the shadow. The window in the middle is given a white version of the work entitled Moors, which is inspired by Moorish tile patterns. It spreads out about three meters on the floor, like a train of a royal wedding dress. The other two decorative works flank these three-dimensional “blinds” like two guards at the gate of a palace. One of these works is the white version of Turnball, which consists of a series of connected royal blue round shapes that are turned inside out. The other work looks like a white jungle of gracefully meandering plant leaves, entitled Efeu.

In her studio, Veltkamp always first cuts the shapes out of paper. She then translates the shapes into felt. Folded, turned inside out or interlocking, it always results in interesting compositions of repetitive forms and clear lines, creating rhythm. Her objects not only offer tranquility because of the perfect acoustics, but the beauty of each object literally brings you to silence.

Everything comes together in Marjan Veltkamp’s installations: her love of materials, beauty, nature and a well-considered, aesthetic design, combined with the fact that the soft, natural material absorbs sound. This improves the acoustics and thus provides a healthier working and living environment.

About Marjan Veltkamp
Marjan Veltkamp is a designer and acoustics enhancer. With her label Fields®, she is known for her acoustic, mostly modular wool felt installations. Her starting point is always the flat surface from which she cuts shapes, which she then folds. By assembling that shape, exciting 3D objects are created. Veltkamp studied in the early 1980s at the Academy of Visual Design and 3D Design at the University of the Arts. Ten years ago she showed her first acoustic felt installations to the public. Remarkable about her unique working method is the collaboration with acoustician Ben Kok. Veltkamp’s tailor-made items can be used flexibly because she has developed her own joints that make the work modular and dismountable, easy to move or to take with you.Veltkamp works for private clients, companies, and (interior) architects. Among other things, she developed the acoustic product Square for Merford, acoustic lockers for Hermeta, an acoustic ceiling for the offices of amusement park De Efteling, and a green plant jungle for Leolux. Recently she realized an acoustic installation of 48-meters long entitled Efeu: a hanging jungle of felt ivy leaves in two shades of green for Real Estate Advisor Colliers International located in the former Citroën garage in Amsterdam. She regularly presents her work at fairs such as Object Rotterdam, Design District in Rotterdam and Masterly in Milan, where showed this year the meandering cobalt blue wall installation Turnball.

Text: Viveka van de Vliet