QUEEN OF CANDY FLOSS
“Like sugar crystallizing into stone. Life’s transformation, gradually shown.” Martijntje Cornelia
Martijntje Cornelia is known as the Queen of Candy Floss. She would love to see the world covered in sweetness. It is better to set eyes on sugar than consume the white grains. No other artist in the world works entirely with Candy Floss like her. Cornelia is inspired by the transforming nature of fluffy sugar. When you expose the fluffy sugar, known as candy, to a certain environment it will transform from its fluffy shape to a flexible and soft substance. What remains is a piece of Candy Floss that can vary from fragile to robust. Cornelia believes that the transition from fluffy to hardened stone is equivalent to life’s transformation. The different phases of the material provide solace. Thin threads feel fragile and vulnerable, the lumpy sweet clouds bring joy, the sticky phase is a sticky business, and the hardened crystals evoke wonder and wisdom.
Martijntje Cornelia’s artworks are always a co-production of herself, candy floss and nature: ‘Candy Floss can never be fully controlled. The pink cloud that comes first can crystallize quickly or partially.Some transformations take longer, perhaps years, growing slowly until they manifest.’ Cornelia translates these internal revolutions and transformations from the candy into jewelry, wall pieces and sculptures. All the Candy Floss crystals and rocks you see here originate from previously made artworks. Nothing is lost and everything, even minuscule leftovers, are reused. Next to this, she builds moving installations and performances with the fluffy clouds.
The fluffy cloud is always the starting point of her work. ‘The airy sweet cloud is where my work always begins. For me, candy floss is magical. The feeling of joy starts with your very first contact with fluffy sugar. Seeing such a magical airy cloud. Smelling the burnt sugar. The sweet little cloud touching your lips. You take a bite and it’s gone. A sensation of sugar sliding in. It’s a snapshot, a few seconds, but so magical.’
She would love to immortalize the airy cloud of magic, her favorite moment. ‘What we all want, isn’t it? Capturing those sweet moments forever. Freeze time. Reality is different. The magical cloud will change, just like so many moments in our lives. Sometimes difficult, which is why we often try to cling to the beginning.’ With her work, she wants to show that the new form can be just as beautiful. The crystallized shape after the transformation can be as special and magical.
“The ephemeral clouds of sugar transform into luscious sweet rocks.”
Her work is included in the permanent collection of:
LAM museum. Sugar Woman, Forever Me, 2022
Museum Vlaardingen. Sweet Shocking Pink Bust, nr.1 Agneta van Reeuwijk, 2024