The book ‘Celebrating Patterns’ is designed for those with a broad and interdisciplinary mindset who appreciate the cross-pollination between various creative fields and recognize the importance of craft in contemporary art.

About the Book:

‘Celebrating Patterns’ highlights the significance of patterns in modern visual art and design through the works of Christie van der Haak, a pattern artist renowned for her intricate and layered designs.
The development of her previous book ‘Sproken’, in collaboration with Studio Renate Boere, offered new insights into Christie's work. Since their award-winning collaboration, Christie has used her patterns to immerse people in her world physically, telling stories about the surrounding environment. In ‘Celebrating Patterns’, this collaboration continues, challenging Christie to further explore her craft. The book merges the physical and real worlds, with Christie's patterns taking center stage. It serves as a poetic metaphor, illustrating the infinite possibilities of interdisciplinary thinking, much like Christie's approach to pattern design.
‘Celebrating Patterns’ supports new ways of 'thinking by doing' and is cherished by students and professionals for stimulating a continuous creative mindset. The book underscores the value of interdisciplinary methodology by blending fine arts, applied arts, photography, graphic design, tactile thinking, and storytelling, leading to a richer, more layered narrative that transports the reader into Christie's world.

About the Design:

In ‘Celebrating Patterns’, Studio Renate Boere showcases more than 200 of Christie's patterns on seven different paper types, each with unique tactile structures, thicknesses, and finishes. This creates a multi-layered, visually and physically rich object. The book employs various experiments and applications of Christie's patterns, highlighting their uniqueness through diverse paper types. The binding method and photo edges ensure that every millimeter of the book is covered with patterns. As readers navigate the book, they encounter photos of her installations, with the dust jacket offering a chronological overview of her artistic evolution.
Arthur Crucq, one of the book's contributors, notes that technological innovation prompts makers to reconceptualize their craft's essence. By returning to traditional handicraft in an age of technological abundance, artists and designers connect with tradition to ultimately transform it. ‘Celebrating Patterns’ is an ode to the enduring relevance of patterns, showcasing Christie van der Haak's work as it journeys through an experimental world of patterns before finding rest within the book. The book employs various craft techniques to celebrate the power of pattern drawing. The open-back binding, which reveals the patterns within the spine, and the innovative use of foil stamping under and over the four-color printing, create a beautiful golden 'woven' glow, adding to the book's aesthetic and tactile appeal.
Currently, Christie's work is being exhibited in Roermond, reflecting the high demand for her art in recent years. This surge in interest highlights the impact of documenting, showcasing, and writing about an artist's work, as well as the growing appreciation for traditional crafts in a modern context. ‘Celebrating Patterns’ is used in art schools to teach the richness, diversity, and complexity of patterns, emphasizing their contemporary importance through applied forms.

For more information about the artist/designer: www.christievanderhaak.nl

Colophon

Concept: Christie van der Haak, Eleonoor Jap Sam, Studio Renate Boere
Design: Studio Renate Boere
Publisher: Eleonoor Jap Sam / Jap Sam Books
Printer: Graphius Group
Texts: Arthur Crucq, Jeanine Hövelings, Yvonne Oordijk, Philip Peters
Translation: Marie Louise Schoondergang
ISBN: 978-94-92852-52-6