In the studio with….Nynke Koster

7 July 2021

“Space is my mould”

The work of Nynke Koster balances on the border between design and autonomous art. Her work is about memories and space that she casts in a very special rubber. She makes moulds in unique spaces, structure of buildings, interiors and from bodies. Because of her love for craftmenship, each work is a unique and personal object.

As an artist how do you keep up with what is happening in the art world?

I regularly visit museums or exhibitions with friends and read about art and design in magazines or newspapers. The building I work from accommodates a wide range of artists and other makers so there is lot of common interests and potential for knowledge transfer with regards to materials and experiences with exhibitions etc. And of course, I follow different platforms on social media.

I’ve noticed in the past that I tend to avoid other art when I’m busy with my own projects. At crunch time I need a clear head and I don’t want other influences. On those occasions I prefer to spend my free time in nature. I hear the birds sing, feel the wind blow, and calm my thoughts.

What is your favourite work of art and why?

A work that deeply touched me at the time was by Joseph Kosuth; One and three chairs. Back then I was studying Interior Architecture and Furniture Design at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague. I was, however, introduced to this work in my evening class for a Minor in Aesthetics from the University of Leiden. Kosuth made me think about the meaning of art – or an object.

I never made actual furniture at the Academy, but was always thinking about the boundary between furniture and art. Where is that boundary and can I influence it? When is something a utilitarian object – and can a utilitarian object today also be a work of art?

My graduation collection Coexist is an answer to this. In addition, I carefully investigated for places in the Academy itself - the place that was my home - and these became my mould. I poured this one in rubber. I translated the casts into soft objects. Purposely in soft, cuddly materials; I wanted to feel it and cherish my memories.

The objects are negatives of the space. Large moulds that become stand-alone objects that carry the history of the place. They stand autonomously in the room, but when you touch them, they are soft and embrace you like a warm object of use. The work is about meaning and transformation. I never could have made it without Kosuth.

What is your favourite art book?

I think Jimmy Nelson; Before they pass away. Nelson travelled across the world for two and a half years to meet people from the most extraordinary cultures. The book brings awareness about our world’s variety of peoples. It is a homage to the thirty-five cultures he will probably never fully understand, but who will never stop inspiring him to visit.

His work is about capturing and cherishing. We are alike in that, because like me, he wants to share and hold on to what he cares about.

What are you currently on and what inspired you to make this work?

Since my graduation in 2013 I went from one assignment to the next. It was a fast start and before I knew it, I was flying to New York and Tokyo for exhibitions. Holding on and recording memories, making them tangible, has been a common thread in my work for all those years.

During the pandemic, things calmed down a bit and I went even more into nature. I also moved to a new house with a garden where I realized I really enjoyed gardening. In 2020 I was very honoured to win the Stokroos stipend for young sculptors.

As part of the prize I was granted a solo exhibition at Museum Beelden aan Zee in Scheveningen. I often respond to the history of the place with my work. Since the museum is located in the dune landscape of The Hague and I often go there in my spare time, I decided to respond to the landscape. To my great sadness, I have seen the landscape in the dunes change drastically in recent years due to human influence. This inspired me to make the artwork Vanitas Flora. It consists of a wooden arch construction covered  with a landscape of vegetation made of alginate. The work is a copy of the ceiling of Het Kabinet (The Cabinet) the space it was exhibited in. The work depicts a mausoleum of a dune landscape. It dries up slowly; cracks appear, and the casts of flowers dry up; they shrink and become less visible. Due to the shrinking and tearing, the yellow background shines through.

On the one hand this stands for the yellow glow that I experienced from flowers in the early morning in the dunes, but it also refers to envy, an emotion commonly associated with that colour.

Our behaviour and need for too much (traveling, eating, consuming) is disastrous for the cli- mate. Too much nitrogen is produced, causing the diversity of plants, flowers, and insects to suffer. Plants that thrive on nitrogen suffocate other great pieces of beauty. This is clearly visible in front of The Cabinet (best view of the museum); the sea buckthorn slowly pushes away all the plants around it.

Due to the unlimited possibilities of our society it causes the balance to be lost. COVID forces to stop and reflect, but people are not strong enough to abide by the rules. When we’re not satisfied with less, we will soon live in a world with less variety in nature, less animals and also less culture. I am also able to share my work with less people. The pleasantries, the things I live for – like the plants, they are repressed or die out.

We influence the landscape directly around us.

What would you like a collector to look at and know about your work?

I am an artist operating in the nebulous place situated somewhere in between the fields of autonomous art and contemporary design. In my work I attempt to reinvigorate the ornament. By shifting perspectives and using unexpected materials I am able to reinterpret the tales these decorative capsules of history try to tell. I have created a set of semi-practical aesthetic objects deeply grounded in (art) history but simultaneously very much in touch with contemporary desires.

Elements of Time (2017-ongoing ) are, simply put, inverted rubber casts of ornamental details transformed into colourful stools. These playful objects are - depending on their context - inviting to touch and surprisingly comfortable to sit on. They also constitute a retelling of ancient stories through physical experiences. I have developed a technique of in-situ rubber casting which allows me to copy existing architectural elements in their most minute details. The resulting casts include all the cracks and chips bearing witness to the relentless passing of time. Although these objects are meant for reproduction in a limited edition, each of the pieces is still intimately connected with its place of origin. I appropriate and re-contextualizes the often-overlooked nooks and crannies of monumental architectural spaces. In their inverted state these spaces are given a new tangible identity in the form of furniture. The project has an ever-expanding scope; I travel the world to capture the essence of ornaments in different cultures.

Although these pieces can function as furniture, their appearance is deliberately ambiguous with regard to their practical use. When installed in a white-cube setting they remain objects that require, and at times practically demand, a spectator and a form of distant, respectful contemplation. When set at a table or in a homely setting these pieces let go of this demand for distance and allow the public to experience their pleasant texture and surprisingly soft, cushion- like qualities. This constant push and pull of modes of interaction gives these objects a captivating presence. They can seem to exist just out of reach, like the decorative stucco on a high ceiling, but when touched they deliver the wholly contradictory experience of intimate discovery.

The pieces touch on a continuously developing plot line in the story of (art) history; the desire to copy. The act of copying can be done for a multitude of reasons; to retell a story, to approach nature, to commit forgery or to re-appropriate, to research and honour one’s peers or to kill your idols. Although the copy within contemporary art has a complex and often dubious reputation it seems to be one of the driving forces behind the popularity and scope of contemporary design.

www.nynkekoster.com