About

Sam Janssen

Born: 1995, ’s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands

Education: Creative Craftsman, HMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

I am Sam.

Graduated (2017) as Creative Craftsman at the Hout en Meubileringscollege in Amsterdam. I developed my love for creating wooden art objects during my education.

It all started with creating design furniture. Designing and creating a product with a clear function, a utensil. Nice, but…yea, the word ‘function’ kept popping up in my mind. And I couldn’t help myself to wonder. Why does something need to have a function? Can’t a chair be a functionless object? Just an object to observe and to free your mind of thoughts.

The products I make are becoming increasingly abstract.

For me it’s not only about the object anymore. It’s about the thoughts behind an object. The idea that emotion can also be seen as a function. Creating something to inspire or provoke thoughts.

This vision emerged  in my final year of college. An organic object made of wood. Inspired by my thoughts about the universe and specifically about a black hole. The ignorance, grandeur, destructiveness and beauty.

Where it all started with making furniture, I ended up with creating art objects.

It evokes an emotion, which is the only function of it.

Philosophize about life, society and nature. How do I see the world? What is my vision? What is reality? Or do we all have our own reality? What’s going on around me? How does this affect me? These questions inspire me.

Abstractness creates room for fantasy.

We all interpret and see things in a different way. This creates space for a conversation. My art is my answer. To talk about it, that’s my goal. To find out what drives us. Because I think it’s important we keep up the conversation. This is what inspires me. Because it’s the only way to understand and appreciate each other. Without any further motives. Without prejudice.