Design Icons: Eduardo Chillida

"My whole Work is a journey of discovery in Space. Space is the liveliest of all, the one that surrounds us. ...I do not believe so much in experience. I think it is conservative. I believe in perception, which is something else. It is riskier and more progressive. There is something that still wants to progress and grow. Also, this is what I think makes you perceive, and perceiving directly acts upon the present, but with one foot firmly planted in the future. Experience, on the other hand, does the contrary: you are in the present, but with one foot in the past. In other words, I prefer the position of perception. All of my work is the progeny of the question. I am a specialist in asking questions, some without answers." - Eduardo Chillida

A self defined 'realist sculptor', Eduardo Chillida was a Spanish artist known for his innovative public installations. Experimenting with space, materiality and process, Chillida's interlocking sculptures, primarily in iron, wood and steel, explore imposing geometry and the graphic line. 

Born in San Sebastián, Chillida studied architecture at the University of Madrid before moving to Paris in 1948 to pursue art. When he returned to Spain in the 1950s, his concentration had shifted towards spatial boundaries, light plays and his sculptures, which he described as 'a rebellion against gravity.'

Chillida's focus on material choices, as well his work to challenge conceptions of space, limits and geometric structures, is an inspiration to the Alice Made This studio. We admire his precision, refinery and love of the abstract.