Nienke Sybrandy (1979) works in Amsterdam. She studied textile at the Rietveld Academy and gained a master’s degree in applied arts at the Sandberg Institute. Sybrandy is a designer who initiates her own projects and works on assignment basis. Next to her practice as independent designer she also teaches at the design department of the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague.

The work of Sybrandy originates from stories – personal or unique histories – from which Sybrandy sets out in-depth projects. She uses images and objects to create new narratives. Through a broad research she brings the history back to an accessible, intelligible norm. A fleeting moment, like the burst of a soap bubble, can form the visual motive to induce multiple new practices and understandings.

Soap bubbles and flowers are themes that frequently re-occur in the work of Sybrandy. These symbols of vanitas address the art historical tradition in which objects of the everyday are elevated to symbols of live and dead. Sybrandy uses this transcendent meaning, whilst simultaneously giving a personal interpretation of these objects to create an opening for a more contemporary narrative. These new stories connect the historic value of the objects to our present and bring them into contact with our daily interactions.