Anne Brandhøj (b. 1984, Denmark) is an artist and designer whose practice centers around sustainability. From sourcing and harvesting timber to drying, processing, and finishing each piece by hand, her distinct designs take form around the natural irregularities of each length of wood. Its grain, knots, splits, and coloration guide her decisions and remain as elements of the final work. Rather than imposing her creative ideas on the material, Brandhøj works with the chance variations offered by nature, allowing her to incorporate offcuts that might otherwise end up as waste. Their unique textures and patterning are highlighted, polished into delicate eddies and currents that reveal the innate beauty of the material, whether made from oakwood, walnut, Douglas fir, cherry, or beech. In addition to her playful functional objects, she creates large-scale sculptures whose undulating vertical forms reiterate abstract motifs as though materializing the movement of sound—its waves, ripples, and echoes.
“I die a little bit inside every time I see furniture with a smooth surface where you cannot see any structure, any knot, anything at all,” says Brandhøj. “It’s a shame when there is so much beauty in the wood to show.”
Brandhøj received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in furniture design from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. She is a founding partner of Bly Studio, and currently serves as a professor of design at Kunsthøjskolen in Holbæk, Denmark. Brandhøj has exhibited throughout Denmark and internationally. In 2022, she was commissioned by Designmuseum Danmark to create a permanent sculptural installation for the museum, in collaboration with the Kay Bojesen Foundation.
ANNE BRANDHØJ
b. 1984, Denmark
EDUCATION
2017
MA, Furniture Design, Royal Danish Academy, Copenhagen, Denmark
2014
BA, Furniture Design, Royal Danish Academy, Copenhagen, Denmark
2012
Exchange Program, Furniture Design, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
2011
Summer Program, Furniture Design in Scandinavia, DIS, Copenhagen, Denmark
2010
Borups Højskole, Design Foundation School, Copenhagen, Denmark
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
Trä Tar Form, Rian Design Museum, Falkenberg, Denmark
2021
On Balance, TABLEAU, Copenhagen, Denmark
2019
Touch & Relate, Galleri Christopher Egelund, Copenhagen, Denmark
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
Sensory Response, Formation Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
2022
Digital Edition, The Mindcraft Project, Copenhagen, Denmark
Matter at Hand, Hostler Burrows, Los Angeles, CA
2021
Matter at Hand, Hostler Burrows, New York, NY
2020
Suck It Up, Rundkant, 3 Days of Design, Copenhagen, Denmark
2019
Svindrevner, A. Petersen Collection & Craft, Copenhagen, Denmark
Time Will Tell, VÆG Gallery, Aalborg, Denmark
2018
Girls Ex Machina, Rundkant, 3 Days of Design, Copenhagen, Denmark
Mono – SE18: The Cabinetmakers’ Autumn Exhibition, Thorvaldsens Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark
Plateau 1, Gallery R2, Bornholm, Denmark
2017
Gran, Hareskoven, Naturstyrelsen, Denmark
Velkommen i Skoven, Shapes on Stage, Copenhagen, Denmark
Wallpaper* Handmade, Salone del Mobile, Milan, Italy
2016
Forårsudstillingen—The Spring Exhibition, Kunsthalle Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark
Kitchen Street, KADK, Salone del Mobile, Milan, Italy
The Curio, Chart Art Fair, Charlottenborg, Denmark
2015
Danish Emerging Design, Indonesian Contemporary Art and Design (ICAD), Jakarta, Indonesia
Don’t Run Out, Holdbar, Galerie Joseph, Paris, France
I Takt til Nye Toner, Rundkant, Trapholt, Denmark
Nøw, KADK, Salone del Mobile, Milan, Italy
2014
Feminine Flat Furniture, Rundkant, Denmark
Ikke Tale, Bare Snakke, Rundkant, Rundetårn, Denmark
2013
Gdynia Design Days, Gdynia, Poland
2012
Formland UP/Graded, Herning, Denmark
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Designmuseum Danmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
Private Collections
SELECTED RESIDENCIES, GRANTS, AND AWARDS
2022
Residency, Danish Arts Workshops, Denmark
2021
Work Grant, Danish Arts Foundation, Denmark
2020
Award, Sølvsmed Kay Bojesen og Hustru Erna Bojesens Mindelegat, Denmark
2019
Honorary Award, The Finn Juhl Prize, Denmark
2018
Talent of the Year, Danish Design Awards, Denmark
Project Grant, L.F. Foghts Foundation, Denmark
2017
Project Grant, The Beckett Foundation, Denmark
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2019–2020
Founding Partner, BLY Studio, Copenhagen, Denmark
2019–2020
Professor of Design, Kunsthøjskolen in Holbæk, Holbæk, Denmark
2015–2019
Chairman of the Board, Holdbar Design Group, Copenhagen, Denmark
2018
Teacher, The Forestry University, Beijing, China
2017
Design Assistant, Chris L. Halstrøm, Copenhagen, Denmark
Teacher, Royal Danish Academy, Copenhagen, Denmark
2014–2017
Freelance Product Designer, I’m a Kombo, Copenhagen Denmark
2013–2014
Member, Rundkant, Female Design Collective
