I’m from the Netherlands, born and living in Amsterdam.
MAGAZINE · INTERVIEW
Sander Bottinga
Sander Bottinga is a Dutch designer based in Amsterdam whose practice explores the expressive potential of light, material, and handcrafted production. With a background spanning fashion, interior, and object design, he developed a multidisciplinary approach rooted in form, color, and the tactile qualities of authentic materials. His work investigates how lighting can function simultaneously as sculpture and utility, creating objects that transform the atmosphere of a space.
Working primarily with iron, brass, leather, wood, ceramic, and linen, Bottinga creates limited-edition lighting and collectible objects distinguished by meticulous handcraftsmanship and subtle variations that make each piece unique. Produced in collaboration with artisan workshops and often assembled by hand in every detail, his works balance refined materiality with sculptural presence, blurring the boundary between functional lighting and decorative art.
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Interview
Where were you born and where are you from?
What is your first memory connected to the art world?
My first interest in Art started young, going with my parents to museums to see installations, objects, paintings, and graphic design, going through the process of first starting to like classic and ending up in more modern art.
Have you always worked in the art/design field?
Yes, when I did the Academy of Art and Design, I started as a designer in fashion and interior design. From there, I became a more specialized Interior designer; following that, I did Object designs for Interior companies, always with a big interest in light objects. And I started my own studio for object design 4 years ago.
What led you to design creation?
I always wanted to create things or settings from a very early age—drawings, interiors, or fashion. From there, it was a process: first working on designs that fitted the style of the companies I worked for, with a growing need to design my own distinctive light objects, which had always been in my mind.
How would you describe your creative process and its influences?
I’ve always been fascinated by light objects, forms, colors, and authentic materials. It always starts with a shape; from there, the process begins to create a light object, always with the idea of being a decorative art object on its own, but one that can also be used in multiple compositions to create a totally new and always different artwork. The lighting function is always the “extra” dimension. As for influences, I love graphic repeating structures and designs, but always with a touch of decoration, pattern, and refined rawness.
Could you describe a typical day of your work?
Early morning doing the ‘office’ part of the work, after this, working on objects for clients and working on new objects and designs.
Why did you choose the specific materials you work with?
What are the technical particularities of your creations?
All my light objects are always made by myself by hand in every detail, and always a little different from one another, hand-created ceramic, hand-colored fabrics, details of inlaid leather.
What advice could you give to beginning artists who would like to create sculptural design works?
Try a lot, never give up, persist, and when the time is right, you will succeed in the way you like the objects to be.
If your works had to belong to a design movement, how would you define it?
I think a bit of all of them.
What designers and artists have influenced you?
From Bauhaus to Tony Duquette, Gaudí, Andrew Lloyd Wright, and many more.
What contemporary designers do you appreciate?
There are so many….Alexis Christodoulou, Herve van der Straeten, Noro Khachatryan, Nata Janberidze / Keto Toloraia, and many more….
What contemporary artists, in any kind of art, have you been inspired by?
Again, many designers, from Gaudi to Bauhaus, from Tony Duquette to Andrew Lloyd wright And so on….
If you had to summarize your creations in one word or sentence, what would it be?
Light objects with multiple possibilities in composition to create totally new objects.
“All my light objects are always made by myself by hand in every detail.”
The Questionnaire
The Questions
(The Proust Questionnaire is a set of questions answered by the French writer Marcel Proust.
Other historical figures who have answered confession albums are Oscar Wilde,
Karl Marx, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Cézanne…)
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Snorkeling/diving
What is your greatest fear?
Loose life
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Impatience
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Egoism
Which living person do you most admire?
My daughter Liv
What is your greatest extravagance?
Holiday/ Dinning
What is your current state of mind?
These are strange times…..but I’m positive
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
These are strange times…..but I’m positive
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Be pure and down to earth
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Be pure and down to earth
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Do you know what I mean…
Which talent would you most like to have?
Singing, playing instruments
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Be more patience?
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My daughter Liv
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
As a younger me, but with the knowledge of now
Where would you most like to live?
Alternate in south and north of Europe
What is your most treasured possession?
It’s not a possession But it will be Liv
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Live in fear
What is your favorite occupation?
Designing artist with a large working budget
What is your most marked characteristic?
Positivity, down to earth mentality
What do you most value in your friends?
Honesty and open minded
Who are your favorite writers?
David Leavitt
Who is your hero of fiction?
–
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
–
Who are your heroes in real life?
–
What are your favorite names?
–
What is it that you most dislike?
Too big ego’s
What is your greatest regret?
I try not to think in regrets, it is what it is…
How would you like to die?
Old and in a fast way
What is your motto?
Live with your head in the stars but with both feed firmly grounded
“Sometimes I find a beautiful component somewhere and start the design process around that material or piece.”
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