The TextielMuseum regularly commissions new works for its collection. Maartje Korstanje was invited to produce a piece that could partially be produced in the TextielLab. The final sculpture of a somewhat amorphous form is composed partly of paper-mâché and partly of an old tarpaulin. Across it, Korstanje embroidered small shapes depicting the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease.
Korstanje based the embroidery on images of viruses, bacteria and cancer cells, which she manually adapted to create the shapes she wanted. She initially embroidered the shapes of various diseases but ultimately decided to focus on Legionnaires’ disease, covering a piece of fabric measuring 150 x 40 cm. The embroidery was completed in five days. In another five days, the embroidered elements were partially cut open to create spiky raised semicircles. A rusty tarpaulin was used as a backing for the embroidery, forming a visual link between the colour and shape of the embroidery and the cardboard structure to which the tarpaulin is attached. The embroidered cloth was then used to line the sculpture’s cavity, denoting a process that occurs beneath the skin but is momentarily laid bare. The sculpture itself blurs the lines between human, animal and vegetable and rests on the legs of old trestle tables made from heavy metal.
The close collaboration with the TextielLab’s product developer Frank de Wind enabled Korstanje to immerse herself in the subject matter. By experimenting together, they pushed the boundaries of the embroidery technique, producing a result they had not initially thought was possible, but which perfectly fit the rest of the work.
After graduating from St. Joost School of Art & Design in Breda, sculptor Maartje Korstanje (1982) went on to complete a master’s at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam in 2007. Her work is characterised by whimsical protrusions and offshoots that often fill an entire space. Her sculptures, which are predominantly made from cardboard, blend abstraction and figuration. Korstanje’s fascination with nature is clearly visible in her work: her figures resemble prehistoric animals, insects and skeletons but could also be mistaken for fantasy creatures or monsters. She often uses ‘inferior’ materials such as cardboard, wallpaper glue, polyurethane foam and plastic. The result is enchanting; her treatment of materials makes the sculptures immensely expressive.
Yearbook TextielLab, 2014
