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Hanne Arends

Exploring identity, playfulness & the tension between image and reality

Introduction

Hanne Arends

Hanne Arends is a Dutch multidisciplinary artist based in Amsterdam. With degrees from both Design Academy Eindhoven and the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, she combines fine art, societal themes, and design into a distinct visual universe. Her practice spans monumental marble sculptures, like Freddy Marbic, hand-blown glass sculptures, Rebels and textile art pieces like Momentum. She plays around one central theme: reclaiming playfulness and authenticity in a world that is dominated by a questionable reality.

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Recent Works 2025 - 2023 

Rebels 

Rebels are all about being free of expectations.

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The glass sculptures in this series reflect on how playfulness and spontaneity fade as we grow older. Born from nothing more than a quick, childlike sketch, the Rebels came to life. Imperfect, bold, and unapologetically authentic.

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Collective Loneliness

Collective Loneliness addresses the topic that we are more digitally connected than ever, yet we are living through an epidemic of loneliness. 

Freddy Marbic

Freddy Marbic serves as a reminder to maintain a critical perspective on the world around us, highlighting that not everything is as it initially appears. 

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De Karel Serie

The Karel Series, a collection of life-sized hand-tufted wall hangings, captures intense emotions through facial expressions. These visuals serve as self-portraits, embodying Arends' mood shifts across life. 

Masks

The project Masks emerged from a fascination with identity and the ease with which we can modify it in this era. In both real life and online, we can easily portray ourselves in a manufactured way. 

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Artist Statement 

I work across marble, glass, textiles, ceramics, and steel to explore freedom within constraint and create connection through material. My artist statements focus on paradoxes in identity and emotion, examining the conflict between appearance and reality, especially in relation to societal expectations and the loss of childhood wonder in adulthood. Themes such as collective loneliness versus digital connection recur throughout my practice. Projects like Freddy Marbic, Rebels, Collective Loneliness embody this search in different ways, yet share the same method: letting process lead, embracing vulnerability, and finding joy through surrendering to the unexpected.

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