dutch artist sandra de groot uses organic cotton to create knotted, wearable macramé sculptures. featuring armor and various headpieces, they form part of the artist’s ‘TEXTILE | kNOTs’ collection, which aims to explore the craft, technique and strategy of her creations.
images courtesy of the artist
each sculpture is knotted by hand using a high quality cotton that allows the piece to maintain its structure and shape.
‘the sculptures evolve according to an inner logic that is all mine,’ explains de groot. ‘only when the sculpture attains a textile form of attraction and becomes self-contained, I literally let go of the ropes.’
with her installations, sandra wants to heighten awareness of the intense process behind each sculpture. she does so by confronting the viewer with elaborate sculptures, which use large quantities of knots and ropes that she hopes will raise questions about time, technique, and intensity.
de groot began creating these hair sculptures in the 1990s, before later obtaining her degree from the minerva art academy with the collection. she later founded atelier CHAOS that she describes as ’embodying diversity, crossover, art and design.’
‘autonomy and conceptual freedom are fundamental to me,’ de groot adds. ‘experimentation with materials and the melding together of disciplines are an infinite source of joy in the creation process.’
pieces from sandra de groot’s ‘TEXTILE | kNOTs’ are currently on show as part of an exhibition at the centre for visual art in groningen, netherlands. the collection was recently exhibited at rossana orlandi gallery in milan and has since been featured as part of dutch design week.
