Maarten Kolk (1980) and Guus Kusters (1979) have been working together since 2009, the year of opening of Studio Kolk & Kusters. Both graduated with honors from the Eindhoven Design Academy, they develop independent projects and commissioned works as set-ups and curators of exhibitions and shows.
According to their philosophy poetry is found in nature and elements such as history, color and landscape are the foundation of their work, trying to translate this into objects, applications of materials, exhibitions and innovative production methods.
The Firm received the Sanoma Jong The Talent and Doen | Materiaalprijs’11 and in 2009 their work “Veldwerk” was nominated for the design prijs in Rotterdam. Since 2013 Maarten Kolk has been a member of the consultative committee for the design of creative industries “Fondo NL” and Guus Kusters is tutor at the Design Academy in Eindhoven.
Their first works of great success, still in great demand today, are herbals of great poetry, which reflect the custom of many aristocratic and wealthy families in many Nordic countries, but also in France, Great Britain and Italy to create decorative panels composed of plants and flowers from their gardens;
in this case the artists use tradition, according to their style and way of working, updating it through contemporary techniques. The selected flowers and plants are in fact laid on different layers of fabric with a soft, poetic and romantic effect of strong impact.
Another very interesting work of theirs concerns a collection of dishes called “Crockery to wither”. This hand-painted eight-piece floral dining set is produced by the famous Royal Tichelaar Makkum, a Dutch manufacturing company founded in 1572 and specialized in designer ceramics and porcelain, also a supplier of the Real Casa. Traditionally, the paints on fine porcelain are applied by hand, making the job high intensity and therefore expensive. In this project Maarten Kolk & Guus Kusters have developed glazing techniques that do not require artisans to paint the dishes directly, but rather to insert this process during the mold before the product is melted, making it possible to make several copies of a painting. After each launch the glaze is washed further and crumbles, drawing a clear parallel with flowers withered in nature; the image of the flower is clear and sharp after the first launch, wilting and fading after multiple reproductions.
With this collection the Studio Maarten Kolk & Guus Kusters balances nature and productive culture, emphasizing the beauty of both worlds. The service consists of two plates of different sizes, bowls, a cup, a carafe, a large plate to be used as a plate or tray and a vase in 6 or 9 different decorations.
