Rozmowa

Rozmowa is a series of five objects fashioned from copper surfaces and glass containers by French designer Amaury Poudray. The glass is imperfect, blown without using a mould, while the simple shapes of the copper are precise and perfectly fitted. Created in France, they are the fruit of multiple dialogues between the craftsmen, the designer and at an earlier stage, the gallery. The project articulates the lack of congruence between appearance and reality. It feels as if these elemental masses with their Polish forenames are still inhabited by the history which has shaped them. The individuals involved in the whole Rozmowa (or ‘conversation’) are Katarzyna, Piotr, Ola, Agnieszka and Maciej.

Poudray states on the eastern-European country: “Poland has been deeply marked by its recent history, from the second world war through the Communist period, with periods of intense mining and industrial activity. Generations have been shaped by these historic events, subtle traces of which still show up today in the everyday life of the Poles. I was inspired by this subtleness. It is what brought home to me the indelible but discreet mark left by our shared past.”

The designer sees his project as a representation of citizens in perpetual dialogue with their history and its tenacious roots. “These copper and glass vases, boxes and fruit bowls are the material manifestation of a personal insight into Polish culture achieved by the conjunction of shapes and materials. Each piece combines minimalism and complexity, the perfection of geometric shape and the imprecision of manual craft. The rather cold and precise look of the collection counterpoints the raw heat of the flame which shaped it (glass blowing and torch welding). Each object represents the individual and is shaped by the flame, which represents history.”

For more information on the designer and the Rozmowa project see here.