Publisher: Jap Sam Books, ISBN: 9789490322779, Authors: Ed van Hinte and Hanneke Gelderblom, Format: Softcover with fold-out poster, 232 x 300mm, 256pp
An intriguing look at the work and art-practice of Dutch artist and designer Lizan Freijsen (Zwijndrecht, 1960). Offers a fresh take on how Freijsen works, the materials she uses and her fascination for stains.
“Embracing imperfection is in fact a responds to the over-controlled society in which we live. Witnessing the beauty of slow growing processes and being surrounded by urban nature connects inner time with a sense of home.” - Lizan Freijsen
Artist and designer Lizan Freijsen is fascinated by stains, fungi and mildew. By turning moisture stains into textiles, Lizan Freijsen focuses on these blind spots and visualizes their beauty. The Living Surface: an Alternative Biology Book on Stains by Lizan Freijsen gives an overview of her extensive photo-archive with a wide-range of categories of traces of decay, and a selection of her unique hand-made carpets, tapestries and blankets produced in the last eight years.
Transformation and time are the central themes in this publication, in which the unwanted gains significance. Engineer and design critic Ed van Hinte, fluid physicist Hanneke Gelderblom and Lizan Freijsen reflect on the crossroads of art, design, and science. The time-consuming production of carpets by means of the hand tufting technique, combined with form and color studies, provide insight into the design process. The photo archive of temporary phenomena, Research on the spot (2006-2016), is the source of inspiration for the artistic practice of artist/designer Lizan Freijsen.
Lizan Freijsen lives and works in Rotterdam. After her bachelor studies at the ABK, Rotterdam (1984) she worked at the Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht (1989). Since 1999 she has been connected to the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam as a teacher and study coach. Her practice has evolved from painting, mixed media and public space, to photographic research, in which dried stains from the everyday environment take a central place. In the frame of a Master study Design Research (2014-2016) Lizan Freijsen has rekindled interest in a lost craft, namely hand tufting. She creates commissioned carpets and textile products and presents her work at many venues in the international design or art context.
Winner fo the Best Dutch Book Design Award 2017, European Design Award 2018 (Brons), International Design Award 2018 (shortlisted) and German Design Award 2019.