Meet Camille Tan | Sculptor – Furniture designer / maker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Camille Tan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Camille, what inspires you?
I’m inspired by Nature and artefacts around us ; especially moments of imbalance, subtle shifts, and thresholds. What often drives me are things that escape total control — elements in motion: a breeze, a moving shadow, an object that sways. I’m drawn to artworks that remain open, in tension, in flux.

Stone has always fascinated me. It’s a material I’ve engaged with for a long time, especially through climbing. It’s raw, dense, silent — yet it demands sensitivity and intuition. In climbing, you confront the stone, read it with your fingertips, search for a crack or edge to hold onto. There’s something deeply physical, almost animal, about that relationship.

Suspending a stone in a mobile is, in a way, a form of poetic revenge on gravity. On a cliff face, the stone asserts its weight, its vertical pull. In my work, I try to lift it, make it float. It’s a symbolic gesture — shifting the material out of its usual context, offering it another role.

I’m also inspired by archaic forms, ancient tools, forgotten objects that once had a use. There’s something powerful in the connection between an object and the gesture that shaped it — a silent but tangible memory.

Ultimately, inspiration often comes from something almost imperceptible: a texture, a glint of light, an unexpected encounter. My process is highly sensory, attuned to what emerges, to what resists. I try to stay open to what the world offers — even in the quietest ways.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I create objects that sit at the intersection of design and sculpture, with a strong emphasis on material, time, and physical forces. What sets my work apart, I believe, is the way it fully engages with space: my “mobiles” or “suspensions” are neither placed on a pedestal nor hung on a wall. They rise, float, and live in the air. They transform domestic space by revealing invisible forces — air currents, light, and the movements of bodies around them. These are active, dynamic, sometimes interactive objects — far from a static or fixed artistic practice.

My relationship to material is deeply tied to my physical experience, especially through my background in climbing. Balance, tension, and the search for the right point of contact are concerns shared by both the artist and the climber. In both practices, one must compose with an environment, adapt, and anticipate the forces at play. This physical, almost instinctive approach runs through all of my work.

I began with sculpture and installation, often using natural or timeworn materials: stone, wood, metal, found objects. I let the material speak and guide me. Each element carries a story, a weight, a density — I compose with what it offers. What excites me most is the possibility of creating living, moving works — and sometimes, even collaborative ones. I occasionally incorporate into my mobiles objects offered or sent by others, imbued with emotion or memory. It’s a way of opening up my process to chance and dialogue.

The journey hasn’t always been easy — filled with doubts, technical challenges, and the pressure to carve out a singular path. But those difficulties have sharpened my vision and helped me define my own way of working. Today, I see my practice as an invitation to inhabit space differently — with sensitivity, fluidity, and a connection to the living and the present moment.

A mobile is not merely a decorative object — it’s a presence.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My relatives, my friends and one of my best friend Alexis Mazin, an other artist i share my workshop with . we have open together a showroom called ‘bois’ ; wood in english. We share our creation in a common space full of curiosities (objects and material we collect and transform). Also Darwin15 Space or Lionel Jadot, or an interior designer and architect in Brussels who supported and helped me.

Website: https://www.camilletan.com

Instagram: camille.tan_

Image Credits
credit to:
@camille.tan_
@LlaluneGalerie
@jrama_utu
@marco_galloway
@joergkoziol
@adele_collections