Project about the monastery Mariavall in Tomelilla (Sw), by architect Dom Hans van der Laan. A series of privat rooms, reconstructed as felt models. Repetition reflected  in form.

Tomelilla

A series of three embroided table cloths. The form and size of the tables and cloths are based on the floorplans of historic social housing in Rotterdam (Kiefhoek and Vreewijk). Citings are from a wide range of artists and thinkers and relate to 'living'. 

In a second iteration the work was extended with a booklet containing the floorpans and citings. And a pair of  wooden Kitchen Tables. The Tables were based on the floorplan of the kitchen, scaled down to the size of a table. 


The work was first shown in PARK - Tilburg in a curated exhibition by Corrie Besems (T)HUIS.  Secondly at RAM - Rotterdam
The table cloths are machine embroided in the textile lab of Textile museum, Tilburg.

Borduren Wonen Denken (Table Cloth)

'Shells' is a series of felt models. These scale models are based on different types of underground bunkers used in second world war as part of the 'Atlantic Wall'.

Already as a child I was fascinated by these concrete structures in the landscape, that you could sometimes play in. In my work I revisited these sites by observing them in a detailed way and reconstructing them in soft fabric. I focused on the inner rooms - the way body's lived in them - instead of the concrete volumes. The surface of the inner rooms is made soft as a vulnerable skin. The enclosed rooms seem to offer comfort. 

'Shells' was shown in Willem3, Vlissingen and Art Rotterdam.

Shells

House Wife is a series of two diptychs that deal with the notion of the positioning of woman in an interieur/household. In this case in a historical context.
The embroided images are based on 17th century painting by Pieter de Hoogh and depict a woman doing household tasks. The adjective 'housewife' has been separated both in title and image.

House Wife

Kitchen is a hand made knitted work, reflecting on the position of the woman in domestic space. The work is a life size reconstruction of an actual sink with taps, piping and drain. 

Kitchen

Small project on the life of artist and botanical researcher Maria Sibylla (1647-1717), fascinated by her beautiful drawings, botanical illustrations. A portrait to honor her independent position in life and work as a woman.

Maria Sibylla

Cell is a life size knitted reconstruction of a woman's prison cell from 19th century. The work is completed with part of the floorplan drawn with Velcro tape. The work can be accessed to experience the actual size. The knitted and stretched walls transform the space, giving it an almost womb-like feeling. 

Cell was created during an artist in residence at the Overslag - Eindhoven in 2009. Later exhibited in Kathmandu - Nepal, during a triennial 

Cell

“We have lost the dark, dancing wisdom of woman, our deep ways of knowing, our creative, life-giving fire. We have become separate from the world around us; we’ve abandoned our roots in nature and the land.”

(If Women Rose Rooted – Sharon Blackie)

Ik wilde de aarde terugbrengen naar een vrouwenhand. Ingegeven door de wetenschap dat we met een opschaling en efficiëntie te veel van de aarde vragen. En een besef dat een paar duizend jaren geleden de kennis van de aarde en het bewerken daarvan veelal bij de vrouwen lag.

Feminiene kwaliteiten als zorg, openheid, gelijkwaardigheid liggen verscholen in deze ‘hand-held objects’.

Beans

Observation post (Observatiepost, 2010) is a life size copy of an observational post in Kathmandu, Nepal, made from knit work. During a visit to Nepal in 2009 I captured this small scale architectural structure; photographed and measured, which I later recreated in knitted wool. This small building was used to guard the royal palace and was also used as a place for men gathering. By recreating it in wool I wanted to transform the building, bringing it to a woman's hand and question the position of power and observation. 

The work consists of the knitted structure, completed with sewn scale models, taken from different angels. 
Show at Art Rotterdam, 2010

Observation post is part of NOG collection (acquired 2010)

Observation post

This work was made in 2023 as a site-specific installation for the Koornmarktspoort -Stedelijk Museum Kampen (NL). 
I was able to use the tower of the gate (the oldest gate to the city) to create a work. I combined several myths and stories of woman and captivity; the fairy tale of Rapunsel (Grimm), the life of Jacoba van Beieren - whose (alleged) braided hair is kept in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. 

The title and theme of the ladders are taken from a work by Louise Bourgeois; He Disappeared into Complete Silence.

Rijksmuseum - Vlecht van Jacoba van Beieren

She disappeared.... / Escapism

Between 2008 and 2012 various projects and works were created inspired by and with use of existing wallpaper designs. These works were site specifc and temporary. A dialogue created between the architecture of the space and the hand torn structures of the wallpaper. The floral motives were carefully chosen. Some prints used, are designed by Arts and Crafts artist William Morris and imported from England. 
The concept for the works, that can be seen as interventions in the space, originated in thoughts of decay and the beauty of it and the human nature of wanting to control over nature. 

Desiree de Baar

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A collection of completed works and projects emerging from ongoing material and spatial research, selected from the archive.