Sandra Keja Planken

Sandra Keja Planken creates sculptural worlds through textile, glass, rope, cord and spatial installation.

Her practice explores the relationship between material, nature and perception. Coral reefs, underwater landscapes, forests, organic growth and changing ecosystems form recurring points of departure. Growing up between the Mediterranean coast of Spain and the Netherlands, she was shaped by two distinct cultures and landscapes. The contrast between them fostered a fascination with how people experience, use, and connect with nature, natural materials and their surroundings.

Rather than representing nature directly, the works develop into imagined organisms, landscapes and habitats of their own.

Research begins with place, observation and material. Residual yarns, reclaimed fibres, recycled plastics, wool, rope and glass are brought together through weaving, passementerie, hand techniques and experimental material processes. Industrial methods and slow handwork meet within the same work, allowing structure and intuition to exist side by side.

The work often moves between softness and strength, control and irregularity, abundance and vulnerability. Layers, openings, knots, loops and hanging structures create surfaces that app...

Independent artistic practice and self directed artistic development.

Specialist training, experimentation and material research within the TextielMuseum TextileLab in Tilburg, with a focus on weaving, textile structures, yarn development and experimental techniques.

Ongoing artistic research through textile laboratories, weaving environments, specialist makers, glass workshops and material based collaborations in the Netherlands and internationally.

La Frieze,
Pan Amsterdam,
Amsterdam Art
Contemporary Dutch Textile Museum
Biennale Rotterdam
Newhouse Gallery
Millenhouse Gallery
Rhett Baruch, Los Angeles
MADART Foundation, Amsterdam
Dutch Weaving Museum, Geldrop
KunstMin Hallen and Kunsthuis Steengoed, Bergen

RECOGNITION
Saatchi Art Rising Stars 2026, Illuminate
Selected talent to watch, The New York Times, 2024
Presentator to Dutch Queen, 2023 Milan