The Surrealist Set Design of Sarah Illenberger

If the work of Sarah Illenberger exudes a handmade, DIY quality that's because the Berlin-based set designer uses no real technology to create renderings of her pieces or make plans for fabrication. Illenberger sketches out her ideas with good old fashioned ink and paper, which makes her somewhat of an anomaly these days. Her materials of choice are familiar, it's the unexpected ways in which she uses them that offers a new meaning.

One of her most recent projects, photographs of sets Illenberger built for Architectural Digest, shows off her true, surrealist roots. There's the obvious references to Magritte (there's literally a picture of a person wearing a bowler hat), but her reappropriation of objects and her use of scale--matchsticks as big as tree branches, a die the size of an ottoman--has a nightmarish quality that falls somewhere between Eraserhead and Un Chien Andalou. 

Though as unnerving as some of her set pieces are, she seems to consistently add a touch of humor. The lobster perched on the black and white checkered bed is a chuckle in the direction of Dali. You can see this lighthearted touch in her other projects as well; like her ad for Kipling that turns a backpack into a friendly monster, or her work for Goodyear in which she turned a stack of tires into a totem pole. Long story short, her range is wide.

Feel like trying your hand in Illenberger's trade? Get in touch with your crafty, inner-surrealist with a few 3rd Ward classes in Dyeing, Silversmithing, Knitting with Plastic and Collage & Mixed Media.

And meanwhile, be sure to peruse Illenberger's other work here.