Kas Hermkens

Year of birth: 1996
Where do you live: Arnhem, Netherlands
Your education: Artez school of the arts, Course Product Design
Describe your art in three words: Surreal, Absurd, Alternate Future
Website | Instagram

How do you approach the merging of humans and their most valued possessions in your work? Can you explain the thought process behind this exploration of evolution and obsession?

I believe the connection we have with our objects and how we use them makes us human. It can be a very personal bond, the way you surround yourself with the objects and tools you love. We all build our own little personal habitats at home where we surround ourselves with what we love. In a way I see creation and development of objects by humans as part of evolution. It’s like nature made us and now we turn nature into something new.

In your ‘Objectus’ project, you blur the lines between what is organic and non-organic. What drives your interest in this intersection, and how do you think it reflects our current relationship with materialism?

When putting yourself above nature like we as humans kind of feel like we do. Therefore, the sky’s the limit in what we can dream of creating. We can develop technology to shape the world into what we want it to be. We can use resources till they are all used up. But nature also has a cruel way of showing us that we are not above it. Even evolution itself shows us that evolution does not always mean organisms evolve towards what we envision it will become. The blurring of what is organic and non-organic maybe in a way is nature showing us that evolution is not always fair, not always logical. But it adapts to what is needed of that organism to survive.

Evolution has always amazed and interested me in that way, an ever developing thing that cannot be stopped with no goals or mind to it. It just evolves.

Kas Hermkens | Caffeine World | 2025

How does the medium of stop-motion puppetry enhance the storytelling aspect of your projects? Could you discuss any technical challenges or creative breakthroughs in using puppetry for these stories?

Building the puppets has been a very informative development and fun collaboration in my creative process. I have really grown to love the craft of stop-motion and I learned a lot from working very close to Giulia Claessens, a Stop-motion creator. Building sets together and filming scenes was truly the most fun I ever had creatively .

By now Puppetry has become a starting point in creating new creatures. I see the collection of creatures as an ever growing collection. It starts with finding objects around my home or second hand stores. I mold the aluminium skeleton and latex body parts around the objects without having a certain design in mind. In a way I let the object itself tell me what kind of weird humanoid creature it becomes.

The creatures in ‘Objectus’ seem to embody obsession—such as the one made from scissors constantly cutting. Can you elaborate on how you see obsession playing a role in both the characters and the larger theme of your work?

Obsessions can sometimes be a simple humble thing. Like the pair of scissors you had since you were a child and still use them. Or a special cup that you drink your morning coffee out of. Obsession surrounds an object and becomes part of you. It can be an innocent thing but also an obsessive compulsive thing. In my personal life I can be very obsessed with my own objects. I will not throw away stuff when it is broken, I use it and wear it till it is far gone. In the characters from Objectus’ point of view their obsession becomes their whole world to the extreme. It is absurd but also real.

Kas Hermkens | Caffeine World | 2025

Your work suggests an alternate future where humans and objects are intertwined. Do you think this kind of transformation is already happening in our society? How do you envision the evolution of this relationship in the future?

I honestly don’t know what the future of technological advancements will bring us. If you go the classic well known sci-fi route of robots, AI, lab grown meat and artificial body parts, who knows? I feel like we tend to romanticize these kinds of developments. They are still fun and exciting but If they are developed by the rich guys on top, like nowadays, then I am not so optimistic for these developments actually being good for us.

There are people who believe in the philosophical idea of singularity, a point where we as humans will eventually merge with all that we create. A point where our advancements get smarter than us and become uncontrollable and irreversible. I believe humans have a creative urge and a will to be dominant and not controlled by others. Maybe this will help us when there ever comes a point where there is no return?

Your creations often reflect on how materials and objects interact with the body. How do you envision the relationship between humans and their possessions evolving? What could this future look like in a more surreal context?

In a way I want to embrace the awkwardness of extending the human body. What we create to help us sometimes does not feel natural to our bodies. It can be awkward or annoying. But it still has beauty to me. We as humans are endlessly creative in the tools we create for ourselves. But this does not mean it has to be ultra advanced or high tech. It can also be something simple you just love around you.

Kas Hermkens | Kistea | 2025

What do you hope audiences take away from your work? Is there a particular feeling or realization that you aim to inspire?

I love chatting with people about alternative futures and people sometimes see poetic meaning in the stories of these individuals. I love it when people start fantasizing about the creatures they see or what they see in them. Some people also are a bit repulsed or too weirded out, they find it creepy. In a way I love at the same time finding deeper philosophical meaning behind the creatures but in the end it is all in good fun and letting myself and others just fantasize and have fun creating creatures (Without AI doing it for us).

Kas Hermkens | Objectus Kannea | 2025