For Ilse, nothing is more fascinating than change. A material that goes through a transformation and thus enters a second life is like magic. Used fire hoses would end up in landfills en masse, but turn out to possess unexpected beauty.
Craftswoman
In her research, Ilse looks at all the qualities inherent in her material. Precisely by working with craft techniques, Ilse sees an opportunity to enhance those qualities and merge them into intriguing objects. Each fire hose is different in properties such as size, color, suppleness, detailing, relief and much more. A rich palette to choose from. Ilse uses different weaving techniques for her rugs and seats. The diameter of the snakes dictate the intricacy of her knotted screens, and the ancient craft of chair matting she has twisted idiosyncratically into her seating object OMringen. For her latest work, she drew inspiration from tufting. Not exactly obvious when you think of a fire hose, but fascinating and inviting to touch it certainly is.
Connection
For “I exist because I change,” Ilse chose to enter into collaborations and, in doing so, also rediscover herself. It is precisely through contact with others that you find new possibilities within yourself. With designer Lisanne Meester, Ilse developed a seating structure where the emphasis is on powerful materials that reinforce each other but still stand on their own. Joints are visible detailing and also detachable. Thus, the object could be dismantled back into separate materials, greatly simplifying reuse and recycling. Lisanne loves working with concrete and for our joint design they chose 100% recycled concrete from Urban Mine.
Ilse developed the tapestry together with her client. His request for figurative elements results in a modern oriental tapestry.
