Sigrid Calon
Den Bosch (the Netherlands), 1969
The work of Sigrid Calon (1969) navigates between autonomous and applied art. As an artist she has set her own goalposts somewhere between design, graphic design and autonomous art. Characteristic for Calon are intuition, ratio and playfulness. She is searching for wonder and gets inspiration out of the everyday things that surround her. Her work appears fresh, new and modernistic.
Sigrid Calon was born in Den Bosch, raised in Eindhoven and lives and works in Tilburg, where she studied textile design at the Academie voor Beeldende Vormgeving (Academy of Visual Design). After years of experience in the world of design, she focused entirely on artistry from 2005 onwards. In search of the quality and control of an autonomous image, she developed a unique point of view and personal signature in the following years.
Apart from the love for textile, research and the experiment are Calon’s most important motives. For De Lakenhal Open Air Museum she’s creating a mural, in which she uses a embroidery grid as a starting point.
Calon feels connected to the original design aesthetics of Dutch Design: minimalistic, experimental, innovative, unconventional and with a sense of humour. Getting acquainted with the work of Mondriaan during her school years, too, has been of great influence in her way of working. Her first book constisted of 120 ‘compositions’, in which she was seeking a balance between colour, shape and clarity. Calon is looking for the essence and is developing an own and recognisable style, a visual language, in which she plays with shape and colour within the grid or framework. In this way, she investigates the possibilities of ‘intuitive communication’.
Her first book To the Extend of / \ | & - has led to Calon’s international break-through in 2012. The book and eponymous riso prints have taken her to Art Book Fairs in Milan, Basel, Los Angeles and New York, to institutes such as the MoMa, Victoria & Albert Museum, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, but also to libraries, institutes and private enthusiasts. It resulted in remarkable partnerships within the world of design; Swatch, Unliqo and Forbo. Her work could be seen during the Dutch Design Week Eindhoven, ACEC Apeldoorn and at The Others Art Fair in Turin (Italy). In 2013 she received a grant from the Mondriaan Fonds.
