Sanderjan Cornelis

Once upon a time in the Kempen

I am Sanderjan Cornelis, stained glass artist, activist and storyteller with light.

I was born in the winter of 1988 and grew up in a family that grew into a lively gang of eight children who made the Kastelse Kempen (in)secure. An environment that taught me to observe, connect, take up space and also to give space. Creativity, social antennas and engagement were not conscious choices, but a way of life and coming home.

Ready set, action!

Early on, I felt that the world as it is organised did not naturally align with who I was. That realisation did not make me silent, but rather action-oriented. For years, I actively worked for the safety and equality of young people and LGBTQ+ individuals as an animator, youth worker and coordinator of Wel Jong vzw. That engagement also seeps through into my artistic practice: visible, playful, sometimes confrontational, but always human.

In 2020, I decided to work with my hands again and live less in my head. That quest brought me to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. By chance, I stumbled upon stained glass. An ancient craft, laden with history and often normative stories. It was that tension that intrigued me. I had no prior knowledge, but a strong intuition.

Stained glass was never a childhood dream of mine. It simply existed. I first saw it at my grandparents' house. I looked at it without making anything of it. Years later, it turned out that it had quietly settled within me, and is now impossible to imagine my work without.

Studio with a view

In 2024, my practice took a new turn. I had the opportunity to move into the Loodswezen in Antwerp, where I started working part-time as an artist. What began as the next step in my search quickly grew into a place where studio, experiment, and encounter came together. The work and the studio gained increasing visibility, with commissions, workshops, and training sessions following one another at a rapid pace.

Things escalated quickly, but in a good way.

This growth made something clear. In January 2025, I decided to fully commit to art and started working full-time as a freelance artist.

Not long after, several significant milestones followed. I was commissioned to create a large stained glass work for the cultural house VIERNULVIER in Ghent, a project where artistic research, technique, and public space come together. Additionally, I became involved in Heritage Day, where my work and practice were presented within a broader context of craftsmanship, history, and contemporary interpretation.

Although stained glass remains the starting point of my studio, my work is not limited to that. In everything I create, I start from the same premise: playing with light, colour, and depth. This research also translates into painting, linocuts, and other graphic experiments. Each medium offers a different way to build layers, suggest stories, and invite the viewer to look slowly.

Come for the light, stay for the layers

Today I use stained glass as a contemporary storytelling medium. In my free work, I connect activism with humour, references to gay culture, art deco, pop art, and graphic structures. I play with transparency, hidden figures, and layering, both literally and thematically. Light is not a minor detail, but an active player: it changes, shifts, and brings each work to life.

In addition to my artistic work, I also create unique bespoke glass works for interiors, public spaces, and private clients. Sometimes activist, sometimes understated, but always with attention to atmosphere, colour, and character. Each work arises in dialogue with the space and the people who inhabit it.

My studio is a place where craftsmanship, experimentation, and encounter come together. Where old techniques gain a new voice. Where light not only enters but tells something.

Welcome.