Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Sturkenboom
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Before I attended and graduated Art school in the Netherlands in 2012 I had a very different life, working in factories as a welder. I always knew that could not be it. Two years after my graduation I went international with my work as I started to participate in fairs such as Salone del Mobile and later DesignMiami. Now I work from my studio in Amsterdam with artisans worldwide to create small collections and commissioned pieces that for 90% go to the US market.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
First few years you work round the clock, you invest all you have in time, in effort and money. If you dedicate yourself completely to your work, some things in life come second or not at all. When you grow a bit older you realize what that means. That subconsciously that were choices you made that made you miss out on other things in life.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m happy that I can still work from my own narrative, That what keeps me up at night translates to conceptual thinking and then to unconventional work. Your best brain sculpted narrative pieces are maybe not the ones that sell but to me it is an absolute necessity to get these ideas out of my system and into the world. I feel it gives me the right to exist.
Last few years I’ve been working on my Overgrown series, where I crystallize mirrors, chandeliers and candelabra for example. Next to that I work a lot with glass and metals as well. For every new project I try to do something completely new, it would be my absolute nightmare constantly working on the same concept or with the same technique or material. I don’t know how artists can keep up with that 10 years or longer.
The piece that catapulted my work in to the world the most must be 21 Grams, it’s a memory box for a widow that contains all the beautiful memories she has to her late husband. The urn inside enables her to make love to him once again. It was a good catalyst for a few years.
I’m happy with the conversations that created. I’m also proud of my work Watching time fly by, where you can see a fly -that’s cut from a 500 euro bill- flying exactly one circuit each minute inside a glass dome.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Sitting on the back of my best friends bike cycling home in a tropical summer rainstorm.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://marksturkenboom.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/marksturkenboom/
Image Credits
Atelier Mark Sturkenboom
