Architect, artist and product designer. 

Everything that has got to do with creating gives me pleasure.  I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1970. I graduated with a Bachelor in Architecture at the University of the Witwatersrand in 1996. After my studies I moved to the Netherlands. I now live and work in The Hague.  

You could call me a manic millipede. My head is constantly exploding with new ideas. Too many ideas to realize on my own, in one lifetime. I am inspired by materials, textures, craftsmanship and the relationship between craftsmanship and technology.  In my work I explore how the interaction of these things form who we are and how we live.

I’m fascinated by all the things we collect to fill our lives with. The clutter that gives us meaning. The things we give emotional value to.

Part of this fascination is expressed in a range of Beadbags. 

These colourful objects were born out of an excess of ‘stuff’. When my children were young our house was a constant explosion of stuff, especially stuff made from plastic imported from faraway lands. Every time I opened the front door more hideously coloured plastic objects flowed into our house. One Christmas holiday our house was overrun by plastic Iron Beads (strijkkralen). Eagerly my kids experimented by melting tons of beads into a range of forms and patterns. Making objects that we knew from the start would very soon find their way into the rubbish bin. It sickened me to think that these colourful beads were mass produced to be shipped around the world so that they could be melted together and then thrown away. All in the name of creative development of our precious kids. There had to be a more valuable application for these beads! But, what makes something valuable? 

Why is plastic seen as a throw-away material? Why do we decide that some materials are more valuable than others? Does form and design add value? Do human skill and craftmanship add value? Does price add value?

The Beadbags were started as an exploration into answering these questions.