Marianne Kemp's passion for weaving—the process, the repetition, the creation of textural form—is evident in her unique sculptural wall textiles. With her loom, Kemp weaves innovative, new surfaces in which the conventional weaving techniques cannot be recognized. Using horsehair and raw plant fibers, she works in a meticulously precise manner to create surfaces that seem organically morphed. Each centimeter is studied, every rhythm calculated, each structure engineered. The warp and weft are central to the weaving, with added organic elements playing the role of a transformer.
Small bunches of horsehair are interwoven in linen, cotton, silk or wool. Kemp’s signature lies in her special way of molding, knotting, curling and looping the sculptural fibers, creating a three-dimensional environment. Through properties unique to horsehair and other organic materials, these woven works can appear shiny and smooth, organic and wild, or flexible and stiff. Along with horsehair she also uses other materials like dried plant fibers, coco fibers and bark fibers from trees. A work arises intuitively, the resulting fabric fits in with Marianne’s current state of life. It is a ‘growth process’. With her work, she wants to stimulate people to look more closely, to observe, to take their time. Slow art, that is what the weaving is about.
Marianne Kemp’s inspiration draws from her inner world along with input from the outer world in street-life, fashion, architecture as well as nature or found objects. Sometimes it's the colors that attracts the attention, sometimes the shape or textures. Traveling within Europe and abroad to Mexico, Japan, Africa and Mongolia have generated a great interest in traditional art & design.
Dutch textile artist Marianne Kemp began sewing at the age of 13. Her early interest in textiles led her to study art at The Royal Academy of Art and Design in The Hague before moving to London to pursue her Master of Arts from the Chelsea College of Art and Design, London. Upon completion of her Master’s, Kemp decided to stay in London and started working from Cockpit Arts Studios in Central London. In 2003 she returned to the Netherlands. In her studio she works with five different looms, each with different weaving possibilities. Kemp’s work has been exhibited in the United States, at the Salone Del Mobile in Milan, as well as in Winterswijk and Kortrijk Belgium. Her work has appeared in numerous publications in her native Netherlands and abroad, including World of Interiors and Metiér Magazine.