Hindeloopen in northern Netherlands has a rich history of painted furniture and objects that dates back to the Golden Age. Situated on the former Zuiderzee, sailors of Hindeloopen undertook journeys to the North and Baltic Sea coast. These strong overseas connections with the Scandinavian countries led to the famous Hindeloopen style: colourful furniture, fully decorated with flowers, birds and garlands. Dutch designer Christien Meindertsma created her Oak Inside series based on this lively style.
Of her process in devising Oak Inside, Meindertsma says,
"After comprehensive research into the history of Hindeloopen craft, I decided to reintroduce oak, the wood that was used in the early years before oak was levied with a possession tax. I discovered that oak turns dark blue when threaded with iron. Through using this natural method of coloring, I created another astonishing new dimension to the Hindeloopen Style."
Christien Meindertsma, Oak Inside
At Design Miami/, Priveekollektie presented a limited edition design based on the folk art traditions of a Dutch maritime city.
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- 07 December 2011
- Miami
Oak Inside consists of a table, chairs, cupboards, stepladder,box, spice mills and rugs and is recognisable as the typical work of Meindertsma. The form of the chair gives an inside in the construction. In the table, the precisely painted motifs of the past now give way to a pattern of iron tools that are used for producing it. The pattern used in the stepladder now forms the ladder. The design of the spice-mill is inspired by the construction part of the traditional table. All colours used for the wooden parts are produced with 100% natural pigments, common for the 17th century. For the woolen seats and rugs only natural dyes are used to achieve the best tone colours (tinctoria). With Oak Inside, Meindertsma's preference for knowing where things come from and how they work is clearly present.
Oak Inside is presented by Priveekollektie Contemporary Art | Design
Christien Meindertsma made the Oak Inside series in collaboration with t.e. collection. Thomas
Eyck
is
a
publisher
and
distributer
of
characteristic
and
exclusive
contemporary
design
products.
After
working
for
Royal
Tichelaar
Makkum,
he
founded
his
own
company
't.e.'
about
five
years
ago.
Eyck:
"I
had
the
ambition
to
start
my
own
collection.
I
already
had
a
big
network.
Also
I
wanted
to
work
with
other
materials
than
just
ceramics."
This is the latest collaboration between Priveekollektie and t.e., after
working
together
on
an
exhibition
in
the
gallery
and Design
Miami/ Basel earlier
this
year.
With Oak Inside, Meindertsma's preference for knowing where things come from and how they work is clearly present.
After finishing the Design Academy in Eindhoven in 2003, Christien Meindertsma started her own design label, flocks. With her projects 'Checked baggage', 'Urchin Poufs' and 'Pig 05049' she made her breakthrough in the international design field. Her work has been exhibited all over the world and is included in the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, MOMA in New York and the Textiel Museum in Tilburg.