alegría van der zande

Alegría van der Zande (1988) graduated in 2015 from the Utrecht School of the Arts as a product designer.
Before that, she finished her study in advertising, communication & presentations at Nimeto in Utrecht.

With her project "fossils" she embarks on a journey to search for the small wonders in nature: wild flowers and plants from your everyday environment, but very special of structure and colour. Showing the value of seeing the finest and delicate beauty of nature.

She presses flowers and plants into leather. Two natural products combined to a new element. A technique she designed during her graduation process at the HKU.
What leaves the press is a combination of raw leather and the aesthetic lines and subtle colours of the flowers and plants gathered from nature.
Since leather is a natural product, it has its imperfections. This sees to a beautiful contrast between the harsh leather and the gracefull details of the plant.

t.e. 198“fossils"

With her project “fossils” the young artist Alegría van der Zande (1988, breda) embarks on a journey to search for the small wonders in nature: wild flowers, plant, vegetables, twigs and seeds from your everyday environment. During her graduation at the University of Arts Utrecht she developed a technique to press botanical elements in leather, creating all unique contemporary fossils. The final result is influenced by among others pressure force, pressure temperature, thickness of leather and humidity of the flora. Each item has its own recipy; all colors are real (not painted).

"Fossils" shows us the value of seeing the finest and delicate beauty of nature that daily surrounds us, but which we don’t always observe anymore. The combination of the raw leather and the aesthetic lines and subtle colours of the flora results in an astonishing contrast between the harsh leather and the graceful details of the flora. with the passing of the season the design change too, following the rhythm of nature.

t.e. 198read more

thomas eyck

alegría van der zande