Her works are round. You can hold them in your hands, and there is something primal in this gesture. TOTEMS – a series of vases made of red clay coated with white slip – evoked associations with ancient fertility figurines. She never makes two identical works. “Repetition bores me, I have a different temperament. Clay offers endless possibilities – there are so many techniques and styles!
What worries me most is that I won’t try everything. I have lots of ideas waiting to be realized.” Instead, she experiments a lot and is open to mistakes – she believes that they always lead to the most interesting effects and discoveries. She values the Japanese approach to beauty – with its attention to nature – and the wabi-sabi style, in which imperfections turn out to be an asset. Her new series – MINI – consists of small vases, ranging from 14 cm to 7 cm, which, as Agnieszka says, is a perfect illustration of the pace of our lives
“I was frustrated that I couldn’t make more TOTEMS, i.e., large formats. I don’t have time for that. Working on one TOTEM took me several weeks. If I wanted to price my work, it would have to cost a fortune. And MINIs are made to measure—to measure our turbocharged times.” They are also round. This is a characteristic feature of Berlin Studio’s work. Decorated by dipping them in diluted engobe, the MINIs look like stones taken from Zen gardens. Oh, Japan again. “If there is such a thing as a previous life, I was a potter in it. I can see myself in some Japanese workshop hundreds of years ago.
I can’t explain any other way the fact that one day, when I was twenty, I just felt that I had to take up pottery. I even remember that moment. Where did that idea come from? Why? After all, no one in my family had anything to do with ceramics or art. And this was at a time when ceramics was associated with folk art and no one even imagined that it would become as fashionable as it is today,” she says. For two years, Agnieszka has been running ceramics workshops, which is her latest discovery. “I am fascinated by diversity and how the sensitivity of each and every one of us who molds clay is reflected in our work.” If you would like to experience the same thing, the next workshop will be held on December 6 in Sadyba at Ferment, ul. Iwonicka 40. There are only a few spots left.
Works from previous workshops can be viewed on Agnieszka’s IG: brln_studio.
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