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Margré Steensma

sculpture ,Objects , installation , Education , D.I.Y , Conceptual , Abstract

My practice explores how spaces, objects and materials can support the way we move, think and feel. I am fascinated by the influence of our surroundings on everyday life and by the ways physical environments can offer comfort, reflection or a sense of belonging.
Through sculpture and installation, I create forms that function as metaphors for support. Often inspired by everyday objects,
architectural elements or found forms, my work moves between the familiar and the abstract. By translating these references into
sculptural environments, I investigate how space can respond to human needs and emotional states.
Making is central to my practice. Working intuitively and process-based, I use material experimentation as a way of thinking.
Through wood, plaster, silicone and Acrylic One, I explore how forms evolve through making and how material itself can become a carrier of meaning.
Ultimately, my work asks how spaces and objects can help us navigate uncertainty, find balance and feel supported.

Between Knowing and Unknowing
Between Knowing and Unknowing This installation consists of a series of sculptures originating from 'thinking tools': forms derived from the packaging of everyday objects and necessary simple 'tools', such as a pencil sharpener, scissors, but also from a Japanese Rock Face learning kit. During a residency in Kyoto, Japan, I used these forms as a way to reflect on the making process; on what is needed to reach the right state of making. In this installation, the more concrete forms are placed on land. They refer to moments of stability, direction, or recognition: a 'tool' that has already been given a name. In the water, more open and less clearly defined forms appear: the 'stepping stones'. These floating elements move slightly with their surroundings and arise from a different approach, not out of necessity, but from an attraction to form or imprint. They represent a different phase in the process: not knowing, searching, experimenting. The installation unfolds along the boundary of land and water, between the fixed and the movable. By placing the sculptures in relation to each other and to the site, a space is created in which thinking and the creative process do not develop linearly, but move between moments of certainty and doubt. A space in which knowing and not knowing can coexist.
Hidden Sound, Silent Thought
Hidden Sound, Silent Thought - Hidden Sound, Silent Thought (2025) is a collaborative exhibition developed together with artist Yuk Kan Yeung. Through a period of exchange and making, we explored how sculpture can function as a carrier of thought and cultural perspective. The exhibition brought together existing and newly created works. Several sculptures originated from a combination of earlier pieces, creating new relationships with new made sculptures and with the excisting work of Yuk Kan Yeung. A shared source of inspiration was the tradition of Chinese scholar rocks (gongshi), naturally formed stones that were historically appreciated for their unusual shapes and beauty. Responding to both the architecture of Ruimte Caesuur and our different cultural and generational backgrounds, the exhibition explored how form and material can carry meaning. Hidden Sound, Silent Thought became a meeting place between perspectives, where sculpture functioned as a silent language through which ideas and knowledge could be shared and passed on
Softness for Clarity
Softness for Clarity - Solid/Soft Space: Softness for Clarity (2025) was developed for the Schreiershuisje in Schiedam, a small public shelter originally built for waiting dockworkers. For this site-specific installation, I explored how forms associated with comfort and support can be translated into sculptural objects for public space. The sculptures are based on beanbags, objects that naturally adapt to the body and invite rest. Rather than recreating their softness, I translated these forms into solid sculptures made from Acrylic One and finished with hand-painted marble imitation. Developed in collaboration with a craftswoman specializing in decorative painting techniques, the surfaces resemble stone: marble and granite imitations and or own interpretation of Algerian Onyx. The work investigates the tension between softness and hardness, both physical and mental. While the sculptures can no longer adjust to the body, they continue to suggest comfort through their rounded forms and familiar appearance. Visitors are invited to sit, lean and spend time with the sculptures, reflecting on how support can take different forms and how softness may sometimes be found within what appears hard or solid.
The Healing Space - The Healing Space is a sculptural installation that is created by researching the question: How would you like to be supported? Together with others I've explored this question and searched for spaces, objects and rituals that can support us during difficult times. Inspired by the results of some workshop, the Healing Space emerged
Safe Spot #1 - For the installation of the project The Healing Space I've created different 'safe spots'. Safe Spot #1 is a modular sculpture that can be set up in different ways. The intention is to create different settings together to create your own spot to feel safe in
'Thuis' - For the exhibition 'Home' at Villa Zebra, I built a home together with the visitors. Three tiny-tiny houses have been built and furnished that I designed and built together with the children of Villa Zebra.
Dreams
Dromen - Working period at Villa Zebra in the theme Dreams. After the working period at 'Home' I was asked to also work on the exhibition at Villa Zebra 'Dreams'. The built houses became 'safe spaces' in which visitors could safely daydream and in which 'dreamscapes' became part of the design of the house
Some Supporters - Some supporters of the Non Space. Inspired by an extending space.
The Bare Rock - Obstacle of project 'The Non Space'
Something to hold on to - Artwork in public space, Vlissingen In 2020, I was invited by art organization KipVis to submit a proposal for the sculpture park Ik ben een god in het diepst van mijn denken in Vlissingen. Together with two other artists, I developed a concept based on their open call. My design, Something to Hold On To, is a sculptural work that symbolizes support and resilience. It consists of railings, functional objects that we use to literally hold on to, that have been redesigned and welded together in various curves. Each part has its own curvature, suggesting both vulnerability and connectedness. The work invites touch, interaction and reflection: where do we find support, and when? The final artwork was chosen by local residents, who were allowed to indicate their favorite design through a voting round. The fact that my work was chosen by the community in this way gave the project an extra layer of meaning for me: it became not only a gesture of support, but also something that was shaped by collective choice
Other Spaces & Other (2018-2024)
Other Spaces & Other (2018-2024) - The other space, where all things are still possible, A free from play where everything is imaginable, A shape play where there are no rules. Because when things seem complicated, you make no rules to make it easy. Create a portal to move on, to go further. There is a desire to achieve a state of mind where things somehow fit. It fits, because it is nothing more than a playground with free imagination and no boundaries. it is endless but at the same time it's now finished. It's just a fragment. For this, the toolbox is my metaphor where the shapes strive towards a harmony in my existence. Its a world on its own where there are unlimited changes. It's the Other Space Other Spaces & Other is exhibited at the Wild Summer of Art 2024 at Brutus. The basis was the installation of Other Spaces in which new forms from other projects were combined. Like the shape of one of my 'supporters' and the shapes of Shape With a Name

Fleur Groenendijk Foundation

Date:
Location: Rhoon
In association with: Fleur Groenendijk Foundation

This installation consists of a series of sculptures that originate in 'thinking'.
tools': forms derived from the packaging of everyday objects and
necessary simple 'tools', such as a pencil sharpener, scissors, but also from a Japanese
Rock Face learning kit. I used these shapes during a work period in Kyoto, Japan.
as a way to think about the making process; about what is needed to be in the right
to be made

AIR Bridge Studio

Date:
Location: Kyoto, Japan
In association with: Bridge Studio
https://www.brdg.to

Werkperiode Ceasuur met Yuk Kan

Date:
Location: Middelburg
In association with: Ceasuur

Working period with the possibility of presentation/exhibition.
I will be collaborating here with Artist Yuk Kan, a Chinese artist I was paired with by Ceasuur Middelburg.
The collaboration will take shape through the questions we will ask each other. These are questions that can provide an answer to the curiosity about each other, about differences in culture, age, work, material etc.

https://www.caesuur.nu

Zachte Helderheid

Date:
Location: Schreiershuisje Schiedam
In association with: Sculpturen beschilderd met marmerimitatie door Corinna Wildschit

For the Schreiershuisje, Steensma creates an installation with sculptures inspired by beanbags (solid comfort). Objects that normally symbolize comfort and softness, but here are made of a hard and durable material. The surfaces are painted with imitation marble, a traditional painting technique that evokes the illusion of solid stone. This play between form and material reinforces the contradiction of the objects: they look soft, but are solid

https://www.schreiershuisje.com

Agalab&Steim

Date:
Location: Amsterdam
In association with: Mondriaan Fonds

At the aga lab I set up a texture study in which I was looking for endless textures to disappear into, look at and forget about time, so to speak. I also experimented with transferring textures to wood by means of screen printing in order to eventually process them in sculptural work. At Steim, I researched sounds associated with time. I made an interactive sound installation from this

https://agalab.nl/samenwerking-steim-en-aga-lab-in-da-house/

Independent Art Fair

Date:
Location: Brussel
In association with: Plagia Rama

Duo presentation

https://plagiarama.com

Kaus Australis

Date:

During the residency at Kaus Australis I worked on the project The Studio. I had just moved back to the Netherlands, to Rotterdam. The Studio project mainly responded to my desire to build my own studio, to build up my artistry shortly after graduating. For this project and the continuation of my practice, I received the Young Talent grant from the Mondriaan Fund. The 6m high scaffolding cabinet was part of the exhibition at Art Rotterdam

Graduate Residency

Date:
Location: Schotland
In association with: Many Studio's, Mondriaan Fonds

Graduate residence in Glasgow.

This artist has no awards yet.