Rademakers Gallery | Iris van Herpen

Iris van Herpen (*1984, Wamel, The Netherlands) is a Dutch multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans couture, sculpture, and photography. Internationally recognized for her experimental approach to materiality and form, her work explores the relationship between the human body, movement, and the invisible forces that shape the natural world.

Since founding her eponymous maison in 2007, van Herpen has developed a distinctive visual language that merges traditional craftsmanship with technological innovation and interdisciplinary research. Drawing inspiration from biology, physics, architecture, and dance, her work investigates transformation as both a conceptual and formal process, creating sculptural forms that challenge conventional boundaries between fashion, art, and the body.

In recent years, her practice has increasingly expanded into photography as an essential space for extending these investigations. Through the photographic medium, van Herpen’s work moves beyond the physicality of the garment, foregrounding the body, skin, light, and texture as active elements in the construction of meaning. Photography allows her sculptural language to evolve into a more intimate and ephemeral visual dimension, where movement and materiality are translated into image.

This expanded artistic inquiry finds a significant expression in her collaboration with Carla van de Puttelaar. In the Synergia series, photography, fashion, and sculptural form converge in a shared exploration of sensuality, metamorphosis, and impermanence. Together, their works establish a dialogue between material and image, extending van Herpen’s practice into a broader reflection on corporeality and transformation.

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