Biography

Throughout her career, Marleen Kaptein has pursued her passion, exploring contemporary materials and questioning the traditional way they’re used in design and manufacturing.

This began with her early work at the Design Academy Eindhoven, where she graduated in 1997, and has developed ever since. It was via Label/Breed in 2015, that Kaptein became an embedded artist at the Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR), a research institute that develops future technologies and materials for aviation and space travel. Here, she works closely with aerospace engineers, whose innovation is derived from rigid and proven calculations, simulations and testing. Kaptein brings her creative experience, unconventional views, and intuition to this highly technical world. The meeting of these two different worlds has resulted in new shapes and solutions, which can be seen in a number of her signature works.