Art, design and anything creative runs deeply in this couples’ blood and there are no limits to what and how they imagine the world and space around them. Suzette van Dam and James van der Velden, are known for their joint ability to transform an interesting space into something quite spectacular, and while doing so, never fail to include intriguing and sometimes unusual treasures of art and collectibles. Although their newly renovated apartment has already been sold onto the next lucky owner, we were fortunate enough to squeeze in some time with Suzette to see how they transformed what was once a dark garage in East Amsterdam, into a creative living cabinet of curiosity. With art of course, being the main focus.
WHERE DOES THEIR CREATIVE FLAIR COME FROM?
Suzette studied design and styling at the Fashion Institute in Amsterdam. She always knew she would do something creative and her studies helped her take this first step. From there, it was concepts and brands that stole her heart and which ultimately lead her to opening up her own concept store and pop-up coffee shop. Working with local artists and designers to help give them a ‘foot-up’ is part of Suzette’s curatorial enjoyment. For her, a home or space decorated by art is what can help make it truly warm, personal and adored. And in Suzette’s most recent idea of creating a country house hotel close to Amsterdam, she knows that art and design will ultimately play a huge role in creating a cozy family home feel while still maintaining an experience of luxury and retreat.
SEASONED EYES FOR DESIGN
So what sort of art does this couple collect we wondered; especially with James being a seasoned interior decorator and owner of Bricks Studio. We soon learned from our conversation with Suzette that in their collection, there are no hard and fast rules and that the wild and unlikely combination of design elements in their home is what makes it so inviting. For Suzette, if something really grabs her attention then she will spontaneously buy it and if it doesn’t fit under her arm to take home that day, she will call an uber or make a plan. For James and for bigger more expensive pieces, they will discuss it first before biting the bullet. These pieces are usually the ‘statement’ pieces that can either become big investments and or be the focal point of an interior.
Luckily though, the couple are generally on the same page with interior ideas. Although Suzette did remark at how their garage home had a particular ‘James flair’ of a more chaotic masculine, ‘man-cave’ feel. He likes to use a lot of colours and prints in combination with a modern but industrial feeling. And Suzette tends to organise this chaos with her softer lighter style. We think he may have taken advantage of Suzette being pregnant at the time of their renovation which meant more freedom to play with his ideas. Their next home though, we hear from Suzette, will be lighter softer and calmer but never without their joint cabinets of curiosity.
ART CAN BE A CONVERSATION STARTER
Taking a walk through Suzette’s and James’s apartment is like a wild adventure. Our eyes were on stalks as we walked around every corner, door or structure. From a large contemporary poster framed in black and mounted in place of a toilet door, to dome glass jars filled with eggs and other interesting inanimate objects. In fact, the list goes on to taxidermy, tortoise shells, collectible cars and robotic sculptures.
Of course the first thing we wanted to know was WHERE DOES ALL THIS STUFF COME FROM? Suzette told us that wherever they go, be it a flea market or art fair, their combined desire to surround themselves with beautiful aesthetics in whatever form that may come, is key to their collection. Some of their art and collectibles are created by James’s mother and sister who work together as contemporary sculptors (Bibimichele), some art is shipped from art fairs across the globe, some pieces are collected from markets and even from EBAY online, and some art (mainly photographs and posters) is created by the couple themselves. Their art and collectibles are carefully and deliberately grouped into mini installations on top of shelves, books and mounted onto walls… all set up for great stories and conversations with visitors.
GROWING HER COLLECTION
Suzette’s fine art collection all started with the large canvas collage of ‘GABI’ which she bought ten years ago. It now hangs impressively in the middle of their apartment, around the corner from their more recent purchase of the blurry lady (untitled) from the Amsterdam Affordable art fair. Suzette wanted her so badly that she ordered an uber van to take it home with her and had to carry it up three flights of stairs to get it into her house. She hung it up that same night and it fitted perfectly. Buying art from up and coming artists is important to Suzette and next on her radar or ‘art bucket list’ is a Louise Bourgouis or something from David Hockney.
With Suzette’s new luxury cottages and hotel concept in the making, art will no doubt be of great consideration in creating the cozy serene feeling that she imagines it to be. She tells us that there will be big statement pieces and a big sculpture outside, preferably from her mother and sister in law. And what excites us the most is that Suzette plans to work with new up and coming artists to create something especially for the hotel. We will watch this space!
