This month on The Portal, in conversation with Sabrina Sterk.
A multidisciplinary designer and maker, Sabrina’s work moves between art, architecture and object, guided by curiosity, intuition and a deep connection to the natural world. There is a quiet intention to what she creates, an invitation to feel, rather than simply observe.
In this conversation, she shares what inspires her, what grounds her, and the rituals that shape her process.
The Portal is a space for reflection, chance encounters and botanical mystery. It is a meeting place for artists, healers and those humans who hold space for nature, beauty and light.
Read the full interview via the link in the bio.
When there is no reception, no static of a wifi within walking distance away, no hum and buzz of a city, no sound of a motor or machine other than the ones you turn on and off, and no led lights to sparkle in the horizon or keep your eyes focused after sunset - you are granted a rare gift, the gift of space. The physical space around you yes, but more importantly, the space which is concurrently fostered in your mind. It’s not to say that in this space there is silence - for the noise of the desert landscape has its own loud presence, as too does the landscape of one’s own mind. But unlike usual where everything is going on all at once, it becomes much easier as the introspector, to listen to the noises of the desert and the thoughts that follow, and to observe a conversation that flows between the two. It is this kind of conversation - between the human and earth, that I find myself most drawn to of late. The older I get the more I think about how simple it is to define our primal needs, that being through shelter, clean water, fresh food, hygiene, love, sex, and as I reflect on how I wish to contribute to the world as a designer, I can’t help but think of going back to these points of purity. I ask myself, why create more things that we don’t need in the world.. especially when it is so evident that the earth is currently fuxxed from over-consumption, a result of greed and ignorance. These thoughts do not trouble me as much as they make me really strive to create for the purpose of bettering our world. I’d like to think it is possible to use structure to invent ‘space’, which ideally enriches the human psyche and does not pollute the earth. This is what I consider ‘meaningful’ architecture, no matter if it is just exquisite off-grid ammenities we’re talking about, like these, at Tooths Nob in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia
Sometimes the architecture I design (in the digital form) has strong representation in my sculptures too. The above tectonic sculpture series was exhibited at @every_where_adl for Adelaide Design week.
STERK DOOR 1 reimagines the everyday object of the door as a site of architectural and sculptural potential. The door’s steel framework is expressed by a concrete panel relief which incorporates custom architectural hardware, a top pivot mechanism, and bottom plate fixing.
Recently exhibited at @sodaobjects for @every_where_adl during Adelaide Design Week.
Forever grateful for the mentoring and fabrication work from @cars_and_concrete
Thank you for the images @_r_cantwell
Verushka 🤍 A two part modular sculpture made with white raku clay and glazed in a delicious satin mottle. I gave her a kiss and shipped her off today - soon to be exhibited at the opening of @hollyryanjewellery ’s new beautiful studio in Surry Hills.
