atelier. eefje wijnings
My name is Eefje, I live in Brussels with my boyfriend and our son Robbie. I studied fashion design at ArtEZ, the Art Academy in Arnhem (NL). After my studies I moved to Brussels where I work as a costume, set and installation designer.
The origins of my autonomous work are found during the time I was pregnant with my son. I had a very strong feeling that I wanted to make everything we needed for him myself. I wanted to create a colourful, happy and playful world around him. Besides his clothes, I started making a very large colourful curtain that would serve as a wall between his room and the living room. That particular curtain was never finished, but I do think that was the beginning of the work I make now.
The main focus of my work is textile paintings, which are meticulously stitched together pieces of fabric, just like you would put together patterns for a piece of clothing, but I stretch them onto a canvas. I prefer to use minimal, archetypal shapes like a chair, a flower or a circle to emphasise the relation and interplay between the different colours and textures of the fabrics.
Meanwhile, my son continued to grow (as kids tend to do!) and he soon outgrew all the clothes I made for him. I looked forward to start making new clothes for him, but I found I didn't have time for that anymore, now that I had began creating my textile art works. However, it often happened that I would select a fabric for a textile painting, but it ended up as a pair of trousers for him…
So I decided to make children's clothing a part of my work. This is how the first series of spencers came about: they are actually small textile paintings in a sweater instead of on a canvas. This way, my art practice develops in course with my life while I am exploring the possibilities of combining my love of fabrics and my background in fashion and costume design in my autonomous work.
The origins of my autonomous work are found during the time I was pregnant with my son. I had a very strong feeling that I wanted to make everything we needed for him myself. I wanted to create a colourful, happy and playful world around him. Besides his clothes, I started making a very large colourful curtain that would serve as a wall between his room and the living room. That particular curtain was never finished, but I do think that was the beginning of the work I make now.
The main focus of my work is textile paintings, which are meticulously stitched together pieces of fabric, just like you would put together patterns for a piece of clothing, but I stretch them onto a canvas. I prefer to use minimal, archetypal shapes like a chair, a flower or a circle to emphasise the relation and interplay between the different colours and textures of the fabrics.
Meanwhile, my son continued to grow (as kids tend to do!) and he soon outgrew all the clothes I made for him. I looked forward to start making new clothes for him, but I found I didn't have time for that anymore, now that I had began creating my textile art works. However, it often happened that I would select a fabric for a textile painting, but it ended up as a pair of trousers for him…
So I decided to make children's clothing a part of my work. This is how the first series of spencers came about: they are actually small textile paintings in a sweater instead of on a canvas. This way, my art practice develops in course with my life while I am exploring the possibilities of combining my love of fabrics and my background in fashion and costume design in my autonomous work.