The winner of the annual Keep an Eye Textile & Fashion Award was announced on Thursday 10 September, at the end of the EXPOSED LIVE event at the Royal Academy of Art, the Hague (KABK). A jury formed by fashion professionals Patrick van Ommeslaeghe and Branko Popovic chose Inge Vaandering as the winner. According to them Inge deserves the award:

"In her strong vision on material and design lies a strong artistry, an important trait for our time. With the help of the Keep an Eye Textile & Fashion Award she can invest in the further artistic and substantive development of her practice".

The prize, worth €10,000, is awarded to support further development after graduation.

Inge says about her work:

"In my work, the human senses are an important element. The pieces should not only be immersive for the wearer, but also for the spectator. Therefore, I focus on the conscious and or microscopic experience by enhancing the relationship between material, immaterial material like light and shadow, senses, and context. I want to temporally impose people to apperceive and converse with my work, which supports the performative character of the material or object. The spectator should have a dialogue with the material, as it has its own entity."

STICKY FINGERS / An Act of Matter

The dialogue between human and object is an important subject in my work. I start from the character of the material, enhancing the tactile traits of the matter - which can be soft or sticky, or responsive to light and shadow. These traits lead to the shapes of the silhouette. The eyes of the skin by the architect Juhani Pallasmaa is an essay that explains how we use our senses and underlines the dominance of the eye. To me, it was an explanation of how I look at the use of our senses. It made me want to question the role of our senses even more. I’m interested in shifting focus from sight to a more bodily perception, which, at this point, mostly includes - the idea of - touch and sound.

The magic realism works of painter Pyke Koch are a great source of inspiration for me. By using, for example, a different stance than usual he draws attention to the atmosphere or tactility of the painting and pulls the viewer out of reality for a bit. Something is a little bit off or unusual. Although its mostly visual, the tactility of the objects or figures in the paintings are very present. In my collection, you find shapes that are often inspired by the simple and functional labour, home, and evening wear from the olden days.

The materials used are either quite unusual or more neutral. Fabrics like cotton velvet are dyed and manipulated - inspired by circus and burlesque. Pieces of wool, treated with latex rubber, are crafted in a poncho. Thin paper is glued to cheesecloth and shaped as a parka, which is providing a pleasant noise. By using imagination and everyday images I try to find the tension between garments, objects, and people which should lead to a more imaginative and conscious perception of our feelings and surroundings.

EXPOSED LIVE

The Textile & Fashion department of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague (KABK) presented its new batch of designers on Thursday 10 September. For the live event the patio of the monumental modernist academy building was transformed into an arena, where the collections were shown.

The graduate designers Hannakin Henriksson (SE), Haily Kim (KR), Hee Eun Kim (KR), Inge Vaandering (NL) and Eva Dimopoulou (GR) each presented an up-close look at their collection.

EXPOSED LIVE was captured in a cinematic video recording without an audience. It shows five separate tableaux that bring you close to the personal world of each designer. The titillating and dynamic film invites you to look at the collections in a new way. The viewer has full focus on the new perspectives of the upcoming generation of fashion designers.

EXPOSED LIVE came about in collaboration with curator Maarten Spruyt and designer Johannes Verwoerd. The graduation work of the students can be seen until September 13th in the academy-wide KABK graduation show. For more information: graduation2020.kabk.nl.

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The Keep an Eye Foundation supports young, promising talent in the field of art and design. Thanks to various fairs, prizes, shows and festivals, creative creators get the chance to develop their talent, create new opportunities and above all realize their dreams.

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