Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
MAGAZINE · INTERVIEW
Willem Van Hooff
Willem van Hooff is a Dutch designer and artist based in Eindhoven. A graduate of Design Academy Eindhoven, he established his studio in 2019, where he creates sculptural furniture and objects through a process rooted in craftsmanship and material experimentation. Working across ceramics, wood, metal, and mixed media, he reinterprets traditional techniques to create tactile works that balance expressive form with functional purpose. Inspired by history and vernacular craftsmanship, his practice explores the emotional and cultural resonance of handmade objects through a contemporary perspective.
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Interview
Where were you born and where are you from?
What is your first memory connected to the art world?
In Eindhoven, there is the Dutch Design Week every year. My parents showed me around during the Dutch Design Week, and it made a huge impression on me.
Have you always worked in the art/design field?
I have been working in the art/design field for only 2 years; I graduated 2 years ago. Before, I had a site job at a creative restaurant, working as a waiter but also making the whole interior of the place.
What led you to design creation?
I think it’s a fascination with the world; on holidays I always love to discover new places, new buildings, new materials. Be suprised by them; how the planet is growing materials, and how humans have worked with them, is something which I love.
How would you describe your creative process and its influences?
Everything starts from this fascination, looking at my surroundings and wondering. Then I have a phase where I just need to have a lot of joy; I even think you can call this phase naive or, even better, stupid! But in the end, that is how I can create new ideas.
The last phase is probably the hardest part, but that is why you can call it design. You need to work with the material and give it the right proportions, so the object gets its functions. But in that step, I really don’t wanna lose all the freedom and fun that I experience in making.
Could you describe a typical day of your work?
I have a studio in Eindhoven, which is about 10 minutes to bike to, but I like to take a longer route through nature, about 25minutes. To get my body active and to start thinking, I share a huge hall with 10 people where we all have our individual spot.
I make each week a list of things I need to finish, and this keeps me pretty focused on my job. I work on my projects and plan time for experimenting with new ideas. My main occupation is working hands-on on my ceramics. But I also want to work with new materials; I’m now experimenting a lot with metal. To create a free way of shaping with this very solid and manufactured material.
Why did you choose the specific materials you work with?
I don’t want to specialize in specific materials; I like to work with all of them. But I hold on to my thoughts where I like to see design as a tool to express a story. A story that makes u wonder about materials and the culture attached to them, or the techniques that they have already been shaped with.
What are the technical particularities of your creations?
I use primitive techniques to shape them, mostly with my own hands. This gives u a lot of freedom, and I miss that in this mass consumerism world.
What advice could you give to beginning artists who would like to create sculptural design works?
My advice would be to be dear. For me, that has paid off; I have applied to a lot of things that I thought were never reachable, and also with a lot of joy. I just went in with an idea that I had absolutely nothing to lose.
If your works had to belong to a design movement, how would you define it?
A good mix of all of them.
What designers and artists have influenced you?
Max Lamb, Nacho Carbonell.
What contemporary designers do you appreciate?
I really like 2 german guys who call themselves BNAG, who work with a lot of fun. Also, a Danish ceramicist called Karl Monies, whom I met at the beginning of this year and who really inspired me.
If you had to summarize your creations in one word or sentence, what would it be?
Expressive design made with a historical background.
“Expressive design made with a historical background.”
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?
A silly day in the sun
What is your greatest fear?
Dying
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Accept everybody for who they are
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Empathy
Which living person do you most admire?
Grayson Perry
What is your greatest extravagance?
I like to ask a lot of weird questions
What is your current state of mind?
I don’t want to sit inside anymore I want to make something weird and fun!
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Likes on social media
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Caring
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Caring
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
A lot of curse words
Which talent would you most like to have?
A talent to be very Impulsive
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I would change that I worry to much
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
How I developed my personality
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
North Italy, in my own build house in the mountains
Where would you most like to live?
A chessboard my grandfather made
What is your most treasured possession?
People mistreating other people
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
–
What is your favorite occupation?
Camping
What is your most marked characteristic?
Being a sweet with rude humor
What do you most value in your friends?
Accepting everybody who they are
Who are your favorite writers?
Juan Cornella
Who is your hero of fiction?
Rick Sanchez
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Jim Morrison
Who are your heroes in real life?
Jim Morrison, Mac Demarco, Max Lamb
What are your favorite names?
Pelle, Tibbe
What is it that you most dislike?
Arrogance
What is your greatest regret?
That I should have done more impulsive trips
How would you like to die?
Very silly, I’m old and trying to pick a apple from a three but I fell over on my face…
What is your motto?
Learn to Forget
“I use primitive techniques to shape them, mostly with my own hands. This gives you a lot of freedom, and I miss that in this mass consumerism world.”
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