Maarten Vrolijk is an Amsterdam-based artist and designer who considers it important to elaborate on the simple, unequivocal nature of a product or art work and has been creating his works for over 25 years.

His aesthetic and ‘art language’ is particularly unusual because it consciously plays with shapes, colours and materials in an uncontrived way. He also believes his pieces should also make people’s everyday lives that bit more beautiful through the many little details that evoke the unexpected.

Many of his works have been collected and exhibited in several renowned international museums including the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Groninger Museum.

In his own words:

“Even as a child, I was amazed by nature and what they call everyday things — the things that seemed to just pass others by, but which to me became lifelong fascinations.

I remember, for instance, the old cherry tree in my parents' garden, which in spring would unfailingly come out in a riot of pink before conjuring up its delightful red fruit. Having seen that show, I asked for a school desk in the same wonderful loud pink for my next birthday. That present remained a testimony to my wonderment at the cherry tree.

To my mind, flowers are nature's gems and have long been a recurrent inspiration in my designs: the bold tulip, the sculpted rose, the delicate lily.

On occasions, I have interpreted these in graphic designs; at other times, they have found their way into more artistic designs.

What grips me is not so much imitation of the "'real'" world. I am on a quest for the fresh image, the place where fascination becomes something visible and the design gains more worth from adding something to what already exists”