Alegría van der Zande was born in Breda in 1988 and graduated in 2015 from the Utrecht School of the Arts as a product designer, after finishing her previous studies in advertising and communication in Nimeto in Utrecht. His interest and love for nature are manifested from the earliest works and remain the guiding thread of all his projects. His laboratory is based in Breda.
With his “Fossils” project Alegria van der Zande embarks on a journey in search of the small wonders of nature: wild flowers and plants from our daily environment, but very special in structure and color. Showing the value of seeing the finest and most delicate beauty of nature, the designer presses flowers and plants on the skin, two natural products combined with a new element, a technique he designed during his graduation process at the Utrecht School of the Arts.
What leaves the print is a combination of raw leather and aesthetic lines and soft colors of the flowers and plants collected from nature.
Each Alegria van der Zande’s work is unique and finds its extreme refinement and beauty even in imperfections, since the skin is a natural product, with a beautiful contrast between the hard skin and the graceful details of the plant; also the natural color of the skin acts as a background in contrast to the soft and delicate colors of the selected flowers and plants, with careful botanical research around Dutch meadows, fields and woods.
“Fossils” therefore shows us the value of seeing the most beautiful and delicate beauty of nature that surrounds us every day, but which we do not always observe with the right attention; the uniqueness of this project changes with the passing of the season, following the rhythm of nature.
