Sabine Marcelis

Born in the Netherlands in 1985 and raised in New Zealand, designer Sabine Marcelis graduated from the Design Academy of Eindhoven before setting up her studio in 2011 in the Netherlands.

For Marcelis, the interplay of light, colour, materiality and form drive her process-driven practice. She has spent a decade experimenting with resin and glass, creating products, interiors, and installations. These components form a key part of her practice and her work has long explored the possibilities of uniting them to create contemporary works of design.

Growing up in New Zealand, Marcelis spent time in nature as a child, by the sea and in the ocean. Her design practice draws inspiration from the interplay of light in the sky, the ocean, and the snow to create beautiful and ever-changing moments in the design of objects for interiors.

As a mirror, light and sculpture, Shadow light forms a dynamic combination of colour and light. Radiating an ethereal glow, the work appears as a mid-eclipse mirror, with a silvery, coral-coloured crescent and encircled by a LED light.

About her preoccupation with light, Marcelis says:

Light – you can diffuse, refract, shade, tint it – it’s an endless source of inspiration and a tool for me to design with. Aside from light having a functional element, it also has an emotional value to it. When you’re surrounded by warm light it also makes you feel that warmth and cosiness. I want to create works that have the ability to change a space, an atmosphere and mood for the better ... Every day I see daylight slowly becoming warmer and eventually disappearing. To me the role of lighting design is to pick up where the sun left off and bring that same sense of warmth and atmosphere into the home.

Text by Rebecca Evans, Curator of Decorative Art and Design at AGSA

Look for other works of art on display that are either reflective or incorporate light. Tip: Save me by Tracey Emin, Luminal Kinetics by Frank Hinder and Red and Ruby Mirror Ball by Jeppe Hein. You might need to look up to find some of these works! How are these works of art similar? Move around these works of art. Do they change depending on where you are standing? Move further away, view them from down low or on an angle.

Investigate the work of the Impressionists (Camille Pissarro in AGSA’s collection) and the work of Olafur Eliasson . Discuss how these artists, along with Marcelis, have been inspired by light. Do they share any similar qualities? What makes their work different from each other?

installation view: Metamorphosis, featuring Medium Red and Ruby Mirror Balloon by Jeppe Hein, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photo: Saul Steed.

Marcelis draws inspiration from the interplay of light in the sky and the ocean, natural environments she frequented growing up. Think of your favourite natural environment.

- Imagine you are describing this place to someone (a being from another planet) who has never experienced it before. What does it look, feel and smell like?

- Create a minimalist work of art that inspired by the essence of your favourite place. With a minimalist work of art, no attempt should be made to represent reality. Instead, these works are often characterised by their simple shapes and forms and are often made of materials such as plastic, metal, and concrete and either left raw or painted in a single colour.

Take a series of photographs of the same view at ten different times during one particular day for example, outside your front door or bedroom window. Examine the light and colour you have captured at each interval. Which time of the day did you prefer? Compare your images with other members of your class.

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