This spring, Nathalie Van der Massen will unveil the REN Collection, a sensory selection of three limited-edition paravents. The collection reflects her affinity for natural Belgian materials such as linen, oak, and walnut. Each piece will be available in a limited edition of eight, alongside an exclusive artist's piece.
This particular collection is the direct result of Nathalie's involvement in architectural projects. She regularly received requests to integrate original textile designs into the architectural concept of spaces. After intense experimentation and studying different fabrics, the collection's pragmatic origins transformed under Nathalie's hands into three inspiring creations that play with rhythm and transparency. The collection balances between design, art and architectural object. From research to practice, Nathalie combines authenticity with innovation. In her craft, she connects manual techniques with digital ones. This craft is reflected in the textiles, wood and custom-made brass hinges. After careful selection of threads, the fabric undergoes a series of tests before it is finally manufactured thread by thread. At the intersection of design and art, the designer creates a story with her textiles. She crafts the final composition by carefully removing threads where transparency is desired.
‘For my bespoke textile creations, I wanted to create a base, a framework that is modular in different ways and can be integrated into several contexts and styles. Something timeless but also adaptable to different projects,’ Nathalie explains. The collection builds on her love of discreet, natural and sensual materials. Each design includes a walnut or oak frame that elegantly surrounds the woven textiles. Her close ties to Belgian textile heritage lead her to use linen, wool and paper, mixing threads of different natural hues and thicknesses in harmonious compositions with subtle changes in transparency and light filtering. Sometimes tightly woven, other times emphasising openness by deconstructing the composition and skillfully weaving threads around the wooden structure.
Her close ties to Belgian textile heritage lead to the use of linen, wool and paper
The paravent SAN, with its four panels of walnut, is the model in the collection that has the most impact on the space and is suitable for a variety of applications, such as a headboard or a partition. Nathalie plays with transparency by weaving around and inside the frame, creating the illusion that the fabric completely merges into the frame. The paravents SAI and DAN both consist of two panels and play with the visibility of the frame. Here, the fabric is treated more loosely and the open sides come to the fore. While paravent SAI plays with the rhythm and weaving patterns of paper at different scales, paravent DAN is characterised by ubiquitous minimalism and austerity.
Each creation has a unique character and functions not only as an autonomous work of art, but also as a spatial decoration in interiors, where it enters into a dialogue with light and space. While the intentional transparency around the frame lets light through, the light is absorbed elsewhere by the fabric. The paravents SAN, SAI and DAN from the REN Collection will be available in a limited edition of eight on Nathalie's website. 
Photography by Senne Van der Ven & Eefje De Coninck
Text by Celien Hemelaer