They are designers, colleagues and lovers. Kiki van Eijk and Joost van Bleiswijk met each other at the Design Academy in Eindhoven and have been inextricably linked ever since. She is inspired by the forms of nature and her wide range of work includes carpets, ceramics and furniture. Collaborations with Hermès and MOOOI are to her name. He has a genuine fascination with the construction of the object and mainly creates iconic designs, commissioned by the Rijksmuseum, among others. The duo Kiki and Joost their surprising works appear in galleries, exhibitions and museums all over the world.Text: Larissa Schaule Jullens
“I see this totem as an altar. An altar for the imagination. During the first Covid-19 wave, Joost and I worked from home for 3 months. Every day we made a clay candle holder together with our sons aged 3 and 7 – as a kind of occupational therapy. Then I discovered how wonderful it is to make clay unpretentiously. Just shape freely and see what comes out. That was actually the basis for my latest series Ceramic Totems. Cor Unum is a fantastic traditional ceramics company with which I have had a very warm relationship for 18 years. At their factory I had the opportunity to work through a artist-in-residence to experiment freely, this was fantastic and very liberating. I have shaped everything by hand from stoneware so that it is exactly what I want touch can still be seen and the imperfect can be celebrated. The relationship between hands and clay is the basis of the ceramic art form. The totems are a literal expression of dedication to that art form. Investing time, passion and love.” Photo: Studio Kiki & Joost
“In my series Interlocking panels I assumed separate parts that were pushed together without glue, screws or welding. Different from previous ones No screw no glue objects, I have meticulously designed each individual part of this series so that each part has its own quality. The individual parts are soft, pebble-inspired shapes. Very organic and flowing. The coming together of these separate parts form objects in which the parts enter into a harmonious symbiosis. The parts are satin-finished and the edges are polished. This emphasizes the parts and creates a beautiful interplay of lines. These objects are made of solid brass in an exclusive, limited edition.” Photo: Mariëlle Leenders
“Here I am in one of the most magical spaces of my solo exhibition in the TextielMuseum Tilburg. This space is about memories. Memories of a vista, of a season, of time... Joost has created the soundscape for this space, combined with the constantly changing light, it plays very strongly on the emotion. It almost becomes a spiritual experience. At its opening, a collector called it a temple. You can spend a very long time in this space because you always see something different. The richness of materials and the most special yarns of all these wall hangings, carpets and collages will never cease to amaze you. If you look for a long time you will also discover sentences on the wall: my thoughts. I have worked on this exhibition for almost three years in preparation and for the last 1,5 years I have worked very intensively with scenographer Theun Mosk. This was a very nice collaboration, of which I have good memories. Thanks to this collaboration, things have become better. By not only showing, but also doing and hearing, my oeuvre unfolds throughout the exhibition. It has become an exhibition that appeals to multiple senses. That's why I want to go back more often to be there... Fortunately, that's possible because it will still be there until September 2021.”Photo: Roos Pierson
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