The sanctity of the modern kitchen: wall ceramics from Poland

We have already reported on the Polish brand FRØPT, which has developed a clever and eye-catching concept to overcome the problem of uniform kitchens: they offer unique furniture fronts to match existing IKEA furniture systems so that the kitchen adapts to the personality of the owner, not the other way around. In their latest collaboration, they are once again reinterpreting the concept of the kitchen. Together with illustrator Ania Nogalska, they have created a wall ceramics collection focusing on flesh-and-blood femininity.

“The limited-edition collection is an extension of our curatorial kitchen philosophy and a tribute to the craft. In this case, the plate itself becomes a work of art. An uncommon object that allows you to create a unique space,” says Magda Milejska, one of the founders of FRØPT. The result is a three-piece collection of objects, with ten to ten unique pieces, each slightly different in shape, curve and graphic tone. Marrying graphics that blend modern and archaic values of femininity with the traditional object type brings an intimate color to contemporary homes.

Ania, the invited artist, graduated from the Faculty of Painting and Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. “I love working at the intersection of applied art and pattern design; the flexibility and seamless transition between different disciplines and workshops are what is really liberating and inspiring for me. I have been looking for a new medium for my drawings and illustrations for some time; I wanted to treat the material as a spatial canvas. The idea of using ceramics had been sprouting in my head for years, and then the idea started to crystallize during my work on set design and scenography. Very often, I look at space as a picture. The ceramic objects’ idea and form were born from such observations, as a complement to the frame,” she tells us about the concept of the plates, on which she then screen-printed the figures. “Screen-printing is an old friend of mine; it was my specialty at the art academy. This technique gives me the possibility to control the material and the drawing, which was necessary for this project,” she added. The ceramics were then made in a small studio in Warsaw, using double firing. Each piece has its own signature, which is also an imprint of the creator’s mood that day.

The leitmotif of the ceramics is sensuality in the flesh, with a focus on femininity, a consistent reference to the artist’s earlier work: “I love drawing women because they have a wonderful and organic sculptural potential. I often touch on the theme of sensuality, from which I grab seemingly simple stories but pair them with deep layers of meaning. I have an inner radar that focuses on embarrassing situations, broken hearts and sometimes naughty thoughts. This is my ecosystem; I feel at home in it, like a fish in water. And I looked at this series as sensual poetry. The graphics on the plates each form an isolated composition while maintaining visual coherence. They work both separately and together. They concentrate a lot of emotions, but if I had to pick the most important ones, they would be passion, enthusiasm and love. On each plate, like in a lens, is a small fragment of my life, which I send around the world and wish you bon appétit with it,” she concludes.

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Ania Nogalska | Instagram

Photos: Pion Studio

• art
• design
• ceramics
• east
• collaboration
• fropt
• polish design