YOUNG GUESTS OF HONOUR

We are proud to present our Young Guests of Honour 2020: Axelle Vertommen and Thomas Renwart (Les Monseigneurs). Scroll down to explore their distinctive vision and fresh approach to contemporary design.

After studying interior architecture and completing an advanced course in furniture design, Axelle Vertommen began working as a freelance designer. Today, she collaborates with studios such as Dries Otten and Studio Haver. Under her own name, she also creates interiors and objects, focusing on fine detailing and exploring contrasts in materials. Her inspiration comes from everyday objects as well as remarkable modernist and postmodernist architecture.

Axelle approaches existing objects from a fresh perspective, always keeping practicality in mind. Functionality is at the core of her designs, yet aesthetics are equally important. Recently, she created exclusive cat trees that, unlike typical versions, add real value to an interior. Her bed design, featuring colourful, reversible cushions as a headboard, is another example of functionality paired with visual appeal. In her interior projects, she consistently seeks out unexpected combinations of colours and materials, resulting in a harmonious whole.

Les Monseigneurs is the artistic practice of Thomas Renwart (1995°), where he sees the practice as a Horticultural Society, often inviting other artists, designers, thinkers to interact with the medium of textiles and graphic interventions within the canvas of a woven object.

The researches depart from analogue collections of dried botanical species, drawings and textures that transition into a digital morph and result in a woven matter.

Craftsmanship, technology and digital transformations are the base of this often collaborative practice.

The objects are woven together with Belgian weaving mills.