Sabine Marcelis
Sabine Marcelis is known for her highly processed objects that blend the boundaries of art and design.
Words: Emma-Kate Wilson
CANDY CUBES | The unique translucent and highly polished properties of the cast resin give a magical effect to these multifunctional pieces. Photo - Studio Pim Top.
Sabine Marcelis has worked across art and design by creating bespoke lighting ranges, fashion house collaborations, sculptural art, and even water fountains. Even though Sabine Marcelis didn't grow up wanting to be a designer, her love of problem-solving, and an engineer father inspired a love of machinery and all things technical. Her education began in her home country of New Zealand, but after wanting more "autonomy in the design approach,” the designer moved to The Netherlands to finish her degree at Design Academy Eindhoven.
“For me, and in my work, the play of light, colour, transparency and reflection are tools to create a static object which you don’t experience as static.”
STACKED SERIES | In the studio creating Sabine Marcelis’ Stacked Series. Photo - Studio Pim Top.
TOTEM LIGHTS | A continuation of the designer’s fascination with the interaction between light and cast resin. Studio Pim Top.
Her projects have Sabine all over the world, and her ability to work with fashion designer and artists comes from her ability to realise “fantastic crazy ideas… into feasible things.”
Examples of these stylised projects include Candy Cubes; a geometric exploration into space and form. Colour gleams from within the materials; glass, metal, and resin. Each offers its own sculptural qualities that changes with the materiality of each object.
Stacked Table series appears as a natural, polished, cube of stone; with a rose-tinted resin, flatter, cuboid slotted into the top of the structure. The juxtaposition of natural stone and rose resin provide an aesthetic value fitting for a modernist architect or a 17th-century French queen.
KORTRIJK INSTALLATION | Sabine Marcelis. Photo - Jeroen Verrecht.
CANDY CUBES | Seemingly solid objects with a magical glowing edge. Photo - Jeroen Verrecht.
“I get my ideas on the road, from living a life with my eyes wide open and absorbing everything I experience as a potential source of inspiration.”
One of Sabine’s collaborations include fashion house, FENDI — whose styles, and love of geometric form, suitability provides harmony. The Shape of Water is a result of the union, one that speaks to the longevity of the fashion house. For the project, Sabine made ten, resin fountains, each a reflection of Maison's symbol. Displayed on a plinth of travertine — the same stone that from the Palazzo Della Civiltà Italiana (FENDI headquarters since 2015)— the mix of old and new materials speaks to the architectural legacy and the future of FENDI.
Sabine wants to push her object design into the architectural, spacial design and art gallery worlds. But who knows where this designer's love of light and materiality could take her, perhaps theatre, music videos or concerts?
SOLO SUNDIAL INSTALLATION | Sabine Marcelis. Photo - Mariluz Vidal.
TOTEM LIGHTS | A multifaceted play between twisted planes of polished resin and light reflections. Photo - Studio Pim Top.
“Nature is a constant source of inspiration. I have my eyes wide open and take in the world around me - it sounds cliché, but inspiration is everywhere.”
SOLO CIRCLE HOUSE BY OFFICE KGDVS | The incredible location for Sabine’s Solo Sundial Installation. Photo - Mariluz Vidal.
‘SEEING GLASS’ OFFROUND HUE | A family of hand-drawn shaped mirrors which have a hue of colour. Photo - Studio Pim Top.
CANDY CUBES | Seemingly solid objects with a magical glowing edge. Photo - Jeroen Verrecht.
“My main goal as a designer is to feel fulfilled - to challenge myself and my team, to have moments of achieving the impossible. To make that deadline. It’s an addiction.”