Valentin Loellmann: The Winding Lines

Challenging contemporary furniture making, Maastricht-based, German artist and designer, Valentin Loellmann, is full of energy and cannot stop expressing creative states of mind. Inside and outside the studio, every single moment is a source of inspiration and spiritual conveyance.

TLmag: Describe your everyday life at the studio, which you have shaped in collaboration with your brother Jonas and your assistants as a place for working and living?

Valentin Loellmann (V.L.): Everyday is different depending on the way the flow of work develops—it can be spontaneous and is often led by very quick decisions. The studio has grown a lot recently; more projects, with a bigger scale, and a larger team: more noise and more dust. That means the days become more stressful as well and my job stretches over a wide range of tasks: being in the workshop working on and overseeing the pieces; being in the office trying to keep things organised and overlooking the architectural projects; being in meetings to move forward with property development of public space; and then at night when my daughter is sleeping, I come back to finish some things, enjoy the silence of an empty studio and fire the backyard smoke sauna to sweat for some time and reflect on the day. With all the everyday load I still try to keep the studio in balance and in good energy. Everyone and everything here is doing their part, including the kitchen where lunches are prepared, the outside and inside gardens where trees are flowering, and the surrounding water to sit and take a break.

TLmag: You are still mastering a unique and elegant combination of wood and metal but have recently started to explore white marble and epoxy resin. What do you look for in materials?

V.L.: I don’t mind which material I use as long as it can help me express something sensitive and real. I like the challenge of using materials as they are not supposed to be and I always do combinations of two to create balance. I use material in order to translate a certain energy and express emotion.

TLmag: Are you interested in exploring more the fields of art and architecture? Do you have a dream project?

V.L.: I don’t have dream projects. I am just working on my vision of things step by step. I am driven by the challenges and decisions more than dreaming. Since graduating from design school in Maastricht, I have started to express myself through furniture as a medium or design. But I never really cared about the medium itself or the title it brings to the profession. I care about the process and even the act of working and having it all come together.

TLmag: What are some of your upcoming projects?

V.L.: I am developing a 5000m2 site with a listed 1920 gas factory that was abandoned for the last 60years, but was once the source of energy to light the city (of Maastricht). It will be a total and complete and work of art that will be designed in order to create energy. It will also host my atelier as the heart of the building and it will allow me to grow and get inspired for new projects. But 30% of the building will be public and designed to host artist residencies and exhibitions spaces, as well as a 500m2 botanical garden and a restaurant. All in all, it will be one universe without a program or title. Something new and hopefully something magical. It will be my first real work I think that is coming close to my larger creative vision. Its a big step and a risky one – but I like risks!

This article is republished from TLmag 32 Extended: Contemporary Applied.

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