WASSENAAR.- Prepare yourself for a magical, seductive world made entirely of sugar! Using meringues, candy strips, and candy chains, Simone Post recreates her childhood home at Voorlinden, complete with plush toys, a bunk bed, and her mother’s sewing studio. Everything you see and smell in Sweet Memories – from the carpet to the washing machine – is made of sweets. The immersive installation transports you back to a childlike dream world where everything still appears malleable.

Simone Post grew up surrounded by sewing machines. At home, her mother gave sewing lessons and demonstrated that you can create anything with fabric. Now, as a visual artist, Post experiments with the malleability of various materials – including sweets. In a craft-based manner, she recreates her childhood home at Voorlinden; she interweaves metre-long cables of yellow and pink candied bacon strips into furniture, constructs a kitchen out of marshmallows, and threads clusters of candied bacon strands through clattering sweet sewing machines. The result is a colourful installation that you can walk through, one that will make your mouth water.

‘Using sweets, I recreated the house in which I lived as a three-year-old. To me, that is the perfect age; as a toddler, you feel free and safe, unashamed, and the world remains one great mystery to be discovered.’ – Simone Post

Longing for Childhood

With Sweet Memories, Post invites you to return to a time when everything still seemed possible. She leads you into the charming, innocent world of a three-year-old. As a toddler, life is delightfully simple: everything is possible and malleable. It is a period of unreserved freedom and pure wonder. At Voorlinden, Post makes her own memories of that age tangible using sweets, meticulously recreating her bunk bed, plush toys, and even the chandelier in the living room. The sweet scents, soft colours, and captivating materials evoke a warm sense of security — a cosy atmosphere full of dreams and potential.

‘Simone Post lets you drift away into the sweet, seductively innocent world of a child, far away from the complex world in which you find yourself as an adult.’ – Suzanne Swarts, director Voorlinden

Gluttonous Dreams

With an abundance of sweets, Post creates at Voorlinden a dream world that reflects both childlike desires and adult illusions. For what appears soft and enticing has its downside. The meringues, candied bacon strips, and candy chains evoke a sweet sense of nostalgia and make your mouth water, yet in excess, they can become overwhelming. Moreover, life in this perfect, sugary picture is unfeasible. By contrasting the allure of abundance with the pitfalls of excess, Post offers a subtle nod to classic wisdom.

‘Simone Post’s installation is a playful and critical reflection on our desire for more in a world full of excess.’ – Barbara Bos, head of exhibitions

International Recognition

Simone Post (born 1990) was born in Utrecht and graduated cum laude from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2015. With her daring experiments with materials and patterns, she has won several international awards, including the Domotex Best Studio Artist Design, the Dutch Design Award for Best Product, and Best Young Designer. Her work is exhibited around the world and is included in various museum collections – among them the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, MAD in Paris, and the Cooper Hewitt in New York. She has also collaborated with brands such as Vlisco, Hèrmes, and Adidas. Simone lives and works in Schiedam, the Netherlands.