Marianne Kemp

MARIANNE KEMP'S passion for weaving—the process, the repetition, the creation of textural form—is evident in her unique sculptural wall textiles. Using horsehair with varying combinations of other materials like raw plant fibers, and, most recently Korean Hanji paper and gold lurex, Kemp works with meticulous precision to create otherworldly forms that seem to organically morph, yet remain abstracted and enigmatic. The horsehair, the warp and the loom are the three fundamental elements of her practice, the starting points, and the primary and necessary tools. In weaving, a warp is a set of long, lengthwise fibers that run vertically up and down a textile, stretched in place on a loom before the weaving process begins; the weft is what is woven into the warp to create textiles, and where Kemp’s creativity takes flight.

 

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.