Marcel van Kan

Marcel van Kan (1971) is a conceptual artist and educator whose practice begins with materials as active agents rather than passive matter. Working with glass, wild clay, and experimental workshop settings, he explores how materials carry memory, agency, and responsibility within ecological and cultural systems.

Rooted in a background as a gold and silversmith, and holding a BA in 3D Design from Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht (HKU) and an MA in Art Education (Hanze Hogeschool), his work stretches design beyond production toward reflection. Marcel approaches making as a regenerative practice, one that repositions human activity in dialogue with non-human processes, post-growth values, and long-term care for the world.

He is co-founder of Oasis & Lagoon and The State of Well-being, platforms that question design’s role in shaping well-being, meaning, and shared futures. Currently, he teaches in the master program MAPs, Materials in Artistic Practices at the Frank Mohr Institute, Groningen.

Across teaching and independent practice, Marcel treats design as a form of inquiry, material-led, relational, and attentive to cycles of extraction, transformation, and regeneration. His work invites a slowing down: to listen to materials, to reconsider value, and to imagine forms of making that contribute to ecological and sociaal resilience.

Website Marcel van Kan