Maria Hees was born Helena Suzanna Catharina Voorhees in Bergeijk, the Netherlands. She attended the Academy of Arts in Arnhem, from 1975-1979, where she specialized in both metal and plastics. At the Academy, she studied with Gijs Bakker and Joe Sterman. In 2009, Hees celebrated her 30th anniversary as a handbag and jewelry designer. The publication, “Maria Hees | 30 years of design” presents some of her recent work as well as her work from the last three decades. The entrepreneurial Hees is committed to the development of her own ideas about the nature of jewelry, objects, and bags; she examines the applicability of materials, often applying them in novel ways. She acknowledges the restrictions often imposed on the fabrication process. She fights this by creating new manufacturing solutions; this freedom is central to the conceptual aspect of her work. Working on a small scale, her sculptural designs use both organic and geometric shapes. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is in several public collections, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
