AiR Tilburg

Mila Lanfermeijer

During her residency at SEA Foundation, the Amsterdam-based artist Mila Lanfermeijer develops new works for a solo-exhibition. She explores the possibilities of the garment as a sculptural medium and canvas. Mila Lanfermeijer’s inspiration for this project was derived from her visit to the folklore museum Calico in Ahmedabad:

“In 2016 I visited the Calico Museum in Ahmedabad, a folklore museum with an extensive textile collection. Impressed with the incredible pieces that the museum houses I was surprised by the way that the works were displayed and preserved. Each piece in the museum is wrapped in plastic, works are shown packaged, sometimes layered on top of each other or stacked in such a way that one can flip through the works. It reminded me of the way wedding dresses hang on the racks in bridal boutiques, in thick plastic zip bags.

Wrapping the beautifully crafted textiles in this cheap plastic seemed to be a decision based on funds over aesthetics, but I have been thinking about these wrapped pieces ever since. I was particularly interested in the way that garments were presented in the space. Mounted on hardboard, garments were stripped of their bodily reference and reduced to flat geometric shapes that would hang in front of other painted fabrics.”

About the artist

Mila Lanfermeijer’s oeuvre is characterized by a critical and deconstructive attitude towards the political, social and cultural concepts that are often projected on material objects, as well as the artisanal production processes in our society. Mila Lanfermeijer obtained her BA diploma in design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in 2011. During her BA Design, she also followed the Honours Program Art & Research at the University of Amsterdam, which she completed in 2009. She was also a participant at De Ateliers, an independent art school and art institution located in Amsterdam, from 2012 to 2014. Next to her work as an artist, Mila Lanfermeijer is also a freelance curator (The Otium Series for SSBA Salon & Bouillabaisse, a culinary culture program), and currently works as a teacher in Applied Fine Arts at AKI Academy of Art & Design.

Website Mila Lanfermeijer
Solo Exhibition Ever so humble, Ever so Proud – Mila Lanfermeijer