Vertical Integration

Pronounced geometric shapes—organic-looking, intuitively formed—and reverence for the inherent beauty of raw materials are the cornerstones of Katrien van der Schueren’s site-specific wall sculptures and custom interior work. With lively, abstract expressionist lines and incredible surface textures, her large-scale dimensional murals in clay, plaster, concrete and metal have a brutalist character that’s similarly rough-hewn and monumental but, as van der Schueren puts it, is “more poetic and warm—there’s always a softness.”

The Los Angeles–based sculptor grew up in Belgium and France surrounded by artists and lived in a household where, “if you wanted something, you had to build it yourself,” she explains. All grown up, van der Schueren lives by the same example. After establishing a successful art framing business and custom furniture fabrication studio (both still operate out of her vast warehouse complex near West Hollywood), the artist decided to focus on her greatest interest: sculpting her own creations vertically, directly on the wall in situ.

“Materials-driven” is how van der Schueren classifies her aesthetic, and she often devises her own palette, mixing clay with plaster or bio resins depending on the need. “I make my own formulas,” she reveals, including a custom concrete-based clay she can apply vertically because it dries quickly. In this aspect, her work is performative and embraces improvisation. “I start with a drawing, but most often it changes in process,” she explains. “I’m guided by what the clay wants to do and the environment I’m working in.”

For example, van der Schueren’s original design for a massive fireplace surround evolved while she hand-sculpted it over the course of three weeks amid the home’s stark, minimalist surroundings. “I felt the intense need to start curving my lines to counterbalance the home’s angular architectural style.” The same is true of another hefty wall piece, which, made for an outdoor kitchen space, was conceived as a clean field of all white but ended up exuding an earthy, warm Primitivism more attuned to the setting, with charcoal and burnt orange pigments and liquid bronze accents. 

For larger commissions, van der Schueren builds the work vertically in her studio in panels then seams it together on-site with additional hand-finishing. Such was the case in creating a gigantic piece for a grand stairwell landing beneath a sky light in a longtime client’s home. A combination of finely detailed concrete and plaster molded over hardwood panels (“I used a Venetian plaster finish that has a bit of shimmer to it,” she says) the 20 x 15-foot mural flows with shifting light and shadow. No matter the context or application, van der Schueren finds energy and artistic truth in the element of risk. “It’s an intense thing to sculpt directly on the wall—there’s limited time to shape the material, so having complete creative control over the work is key to its success.”