Maarten Vrolijk, Sakura TFL24004, NL, 2024

“Glass is transparent and becomes alive with light. I have been thinking about lamps and what they should look like for some time now,” says contemporary artist and designer Maarten Vrolijk, reflecting on his first venture into glass lighting designs. Vrolijk’s exploration into light continues his broader practice, where his diverse mediums—ranging from glass to ceramics, painting, and textiles—are all united by nature as a common source of inspiration. The result is a design that evokes an organic world, one that feels as though it could have emerged directly from nature itself.

Inspired by his renowned Sakura vessels, Vrolijk has expanded the design into the pendants, which offer a strikingly different interaction with light. While the vessels reflect light from the outside, the pendants emanate it from within, creating a transformative glow. Substantially larger than the Sakura vessels, the pendants range from three to four feet in height. The lamps organically take shape during the glassmaking process through a natural, fluid descent, that Vrolijk meticulously guides. The bases are elegantly rounded, creating a unique and captivating effect. The substantial scale of the lamps presents a considerable challenge; to manage the size and weight, Vrolijk works with a team of assistants. While precision is paramount, the artist strives to preserve the spontaneity that is intrinsic to the organic nature of working with glass. The resulting pendants are a true testament to Vrolijk’s mastery and vision. “Together they form a composition and tell a beautiful story. Just like an orchestra consists of various instruments, but together they play a beautiful piece of music,” Vrolijk reflects.

Amsterdam-based artist and designer Maarten Vrolijk believes that art should make people’s everyday lives more beautiful through the many little details that evoke the unexpected. While strongly influenced by the natural world, Vrolijk is not on a quest to expose an imitation of the “real” world, but rather, is on an exploration of the simple, unequivocal, and often overlooked aspects: color, form, delicacy, strength, transparency, ephemerality, that provide a map to the fascinations we gravitate to when experiencing the world around us.

Vrolijk’s works have been collected and exhibited in several renowned international museums including the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Groninger Museum. Todd Merrill Studio is pleased to be the exclusive representative for Vrolijk’s work in the Americas.

Glass
29.92h x 9.06w x 5.91d in
76h x 23w x 15d cm