BIO
Emeli Höcks (b. 1985 in Halland, Sweden) is a material-driven designer based on the west coast of Sweden. She holds a Master’s degree in Design from HDK–Valand, University of Gothenburg (2021), and has also studied photography, graphic design, fine art, and ceramics.
Her practice moves across multiple forms of expression — from object-based work to photography and visual storytelling — all driven by the same core intention; to explore our relationship with nature and create forms that cultivate rather than consume.
Rooted in the sea, the soil, and the landscape of her upbringing, her work is grounded in the local and the tactile. She works close to her materials and close to place, guided by the belief that design can be both dialogue, responsibility, and poetry.
DESIGN ETHOS
Emeli Höcks’ design philosophy is rooted in an understanding of nature as collaborator rather than resource. She sees design as a cyclical practice — one that listens, responds, and returns — where materials are chosen not only for their aesthetic or functional qualities, but for their ability to re-enter the living systems they once came from.
Her work embraces what is local, natural, and biodegradable. By allowing materials to guide the process, she seeks forms that grow out of place, time, and touch. The outcome is not an object isolated from its origins, but a continuation of a larger ecological rhythm.
She views sustainability as an ethical, emotional, and sensory act — something that begins long before production and continues long after the object has left the studio. Slowness, care, and presence form the foundation of her method. Through intuitive, hands-on exploration, she cultivates a design practice where the hand thinks, the material speaks, and the form becomes an expression of relationship.
For Höcks, design is not a statement of control, but an invitation: to reconnect with the natural world, to question the linear narratives of consumption, and to imagine a future in which creation and regeneration are inseparable.
EDUCATION
2024 — 2025
Photography for Interior and Styling, Inredningsskolan Wittstock, Stockholm
2023
Diploma in Photography, Medborgarskolan, Gothenburg
2019 — 2021
Master of Fine Arts (120 ECTS), HDK-Valand, University of Gothenburg
2018
Digital 3D Tools in a Design Process (15 ECTS), HDK, University of Gothenburg
2017
EAT 2 — Food Culture, Materiality & Design (15 ECTS), HDK, University of Gothenburg
2016
EAT 1 — Food Culture, Materiality & Design (15 ECTS), HDK, University of Gothenburg
2015
Mould-Making for Ceramic Slip Casting (7.5 ECTS), HDK, University of Gothenburg
2013 — 2016
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design (180 ECTS), HDK, University of Gothenburg
2011 — 2012
Graphic Design and Communication (Diploma), Art College, Gothenburg
2001 — 2004
Visual Arts and Design (Upper Secondary School), Sturegymnasiet, Sweden
PUBLICATIONS & FEATURES
MUNTHE Art Monday — Artist Portrait (EN/DA) Read it here
GP/TVÅ DAGAR — Artist portrait (SE) Read it here
British ICON — Editorial Feature (EN) Read it here
Visual Pleasure Magazine — Artist Portrait (EN/DE) Read it here
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025
3 Days of Design, Hansen & Søn, Copenhagen, Denmark (upcoming, 18–20 June)
2024
L:a Bruket, exhibition during art residency, showroom, Varberg, Sweden
Höstsalongen, Gunnebo Slott, Gothenburg, Sweden
Solo exhibition, Vetlanda Konstförening, Vetlanda, Sweden
Atrium Ljungberg, Nobelberget, Stockholm, Sweden
Earthing, London Craft Week, Haeckels House, London, UK
Vårsalongen, Hallands Konstförening (juried exhibition), Halmstad, Sweden
2023
Vårsalongen, Hallands Konstförening (juried exhibition), Halmstad, Sweden
2022
Swedish Secrets, Institut Suédois, Paris Design Week, Paris, France
Anne Aarsland Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
2021
CIRCA Gallery, Minneapolis, USA
Kunstsalonen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Kinshasa Design Week, DR Congo
Making It Last, Embassy of Sweden, Copenhagen, Denmark
3 Days of Design, Copenhagen, Denmark
Romania Design Week, Bucharest, Romania
Värmlands Museum, Karlstad, Sweden
Mono no Aware, Gothenburg, Sweden
The Home Office Gallery for a New Reality, Visual Pleasure Magazine, Germany
IKEA Museum, Älmhult, Sweden
Stockholm Design Week, Stockholm, Sweden
Strana Hotell, Hälleviksstrand, Sweden
2020
IKEA Museum, Sweden
House of Sweden, Washington DC, USA
Dunkers Kulturhus, Helsingborg, Sweden
Stockholm Furniture Fair, Stockholm, Sweden
2019
WIN WIN Sustainable Award, Gothenburg, Sweden
HOTMIX, Studio Bossa, Gothenburg, Sweden
2018
Dear Projects, Kioskenstudio, Gothenburg, Sweden
Exhibitions in Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad, India
2017
Design Inspire, Hong Kong, China
Korean Young Design Week, Seoul, South Korea
PJADAD, Stockholm, Sweden
Gothenburg Design Week, Gothenburg, Sweden
Göteborgs Kulturkalas, Gothenburg, Sweden
Designcentrum, Östersund, Sweden
ArkDes, Stockholm, Sweden
Form/Design Center, Malmö, Sweden
Greenhouse, Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair, Stockholm, Sweden
Stora Trenddagen, Stockholm, Sweden
2016
Kilo Shop, Designgalleriet, Stockholm, Sweden
Formex, Stockholm, Sweden
2015
Design Meets Art, Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair, Stockholm, Sweden