2019

ALIKI VAN DER KRUIJS “MADE BY RAIN” AND “AFTER SEASON – RAW MATERIAL PER LINEAR METER”

Atmospheric conditions are central to Aliki van der Kruijs’ design practice. Temperature, wind, clouds and precipitation are not only part of her artistic narrative, which resonates with weather conditions and climatic changes our planet is facing. 
Some of these conditions are the very material her designs are made of, like in the case of the ongoing project “Made by Rain”, in which a series of surfaces, like textile, paper or pottery, are ‘painted’ with the rain. 
Aliki defines this technique, ‘pluviography’, as a term borrowed from meteorology that refers to the recording of precipitation. 
Having studied photography, graphic and fashion design, she uses a personal technique to create unique, unrepeatable patterns which are made with the dots and dashes of raindrops falling on surfaces previously treated with ink. These singular drawings can be seen as “crystallisations” of weather, both in an environmental and temporal sense. 
In fact, on every piece of fabric of the “Made by Rain” series is annotated exact data about the place, time and quantity of precipitation at the moment of its creation. 
Yet co-designing with something as ephemeral as the weather is only part of her research on dying techniques and fabric treatments. 
She is also involved in a project investigating the possibility of using residual ink from the textile printing industry, which is currently considered chemical waste. In “After season – Raw material per linear meter”, she analyses various shades of purple, derived from shellfish, sandalwood, and residual ink, intending to find new textile techniques and materials to build a library. Collaborating with professionals and practitioners from different disciplines, she seeks to find applications for the newly developed techniques and materials. With this project, she contributes to the rapidly growing community of artists and designers concerned with residual and waste materials and ways to turn them into primary materials for new productions. 

Since graduating with a Master’s in Applied Art from the Sandberg Instituut, Aliki van der Kruijs has run a studio in The Hague and principally focuses on self-initiated research projects, collaborations, and commission-based work. Her inspiration originates from context and material research and operates at the intersection of art and design. During her study, she juxtaposed her backgrounds in graphic design, photography, and fashion design to research how textiles can serve as a means of communication and a meaningful framework to highlight the relationship between man and nature.