Marijke De Cock presents new work in Antwerp and Milan
Visual artist and jewellery designer Marijke De Cock once again reaches an important milestone in her artistic journey. After a year of intensive research, she presents new work in the group exhibition Meet Me in the Middle at St. Vincent’s in Antwerp, opening on 6 March. Shortly thereafter, her work will also be shown internationally at Alcova Milano, as part of Milan Design Week, from 20 to 26 April 2026.
Marijke De Cock has worked for many years as a designer within the team of Dries Van Noten, where she specialises, among other things, in designing and creating exceptional jewellery and embellishments. She uses traditional embroidery techniques, each with a rich history.
For her personal work, she removes these embroidery techniques from their service-oriented role and transforms them into autonomous pieces. At the same time, she allows herself a personal mode of expression, in which she can explore and develop her own artistic voice, connecting her passion for creating with her sensitivities and her continuous search for exceptional beauty.
All of this comes together in a series of characteristic, abstract, intuitive wall sculptures that, adorned with beads, above all celebrate the desire to create, using a material that is thousands of years old and has motivated us since childhood to make jewellery.
In her new work, De Cock starts from familiar motifs and principles from her earlier practice, which she revisits and expands, with an explicit focus on form, material, and technique. The result is a versatile body of work in which jewellery no longer adorns the body, but the space itself.
Line remains central. As the main protagonist, it moves freely through space: wandering, dancing, and playful. It evokes the spontaneity of a doodle, yet is always supported by great technical mastery and often traditional craftsmanship. The lines appear against walls, float between floor and ceiling, and sometimes enter into dialogue with dense constellations of fine beads. In this way, the work transforms architecture into an enchanting, almost intimate environment.
The bead as an autonomous object
Continuing her search for a sculptural reinterpretation of her language, Marijke De Cock continues to join hands with architect Rodriguez Debal, her partner, to create three-dimensional oak forms adorned with brass and black glass beads.
A striking evolution within this new oeuvre is the increase in scale of the beads. In collaboration with a glassblower, De Cock enlarged the beads into transparent, sculptural elements. The beads, deliberately numerous, seem to overgrow the forms; partly embroidered, partly hammered directly onto the wood. The classical techniques of the beadwork and the echoes of haute couture are thus again revisited and appropriated, although in an even more radical sense. Conceived as volumes and with the European oak as their main support, the pieces challenge and enhance the original craft while alluding to almost primitive sculptures and ornaments.
In doing so, she questions what a bead is — or can be. Although they are still strung into strands, they gain a new autonomy: they lift lines, make constructions possible, and even form the legs of sculptural tables and racks. The transparency of the glass reveals the underlying construction. The pieces, designed as volumes and with European oak as the main support, challenge and reinforce the original craft, while referring to almost primitive sculptures and ornaments.
Light plays an essential role in De Cock’s work. Shadows double lines, colors shift, and materials — glass, wood, textile — come to life. Sometimes these shadows are tangible and present, sometimes fleeting and barely visible. Light anchors the work in the moment, in a constantly changing experience.
The exhibition at St. Vincent’s
The group exhibition Meet Me in the Middle explores the influence of jewellery on spatial design and brings together eight female designers working in this field. For some, this relates back to their original training; for others, it seems to stem from an innate sensitivity to material, symbolism, or touch.
Rather than a conscious translation from small to large, this connection takes the form of an instinct that persists — an attention to proximity and detail that remains intact as the scale increases. The result is a collection of functional works that invite everyday living, yet demand the respect usually reserved for heirlooms.
The title, Meet Me in the Middle, refers to this convergence: functional forms shaped by the tactile precision and emotional register of jewelry.
Meet Me in the Middle
06/03/2026 — 18/04/2026
Opening: March 6, 2026, 6–9 pm
St. Vincent’s, Antwerp
More info here
From Antwerp to Milan
After the presentation in Antwerp, Marijke De Cock’s work has been selected for Alcova Milan, where it will be shown to an international audience of curators, collectors, and designers. This confirms De Cock’s position within a contemporary practice that deliberately blurs the boundaries between jewelry, sculpture, design, and architecture.
More info: https://marijkedecock.be
Images (download here)
