ZHENI

ZHENI is a ceramic design studio in Bratislava established by a former architect and interior designer Evgeniia Kazarezova. Now she continues to work with space by placing her objects in it.

"I think a lot about the borders of space, both physical and mental. How the outer affects the inner. What can my piece offer to a person not only in the aspects of everyday use but in its cognitive context? How can my vases influence the “life flow” of the person they belong to. I am not only creating an item to use I am creating an experience."

Emerging and already award-winning, Evgeniia in the first year of her career was recognized and exhibited in London and in Paris. Using traditional craftsmanship methods, she makes contemporary design objects that reflect her vision and her feelings of reality in the modern world.

Evgeniia observes brutalist architecture along with contemporary urban and landscape design. She rethinks the relationship between humans and nature on a city site, making connections between different natural phenomena.

"It's amazing how plants find their place sometimes in the most unexpected places. On a solid wall of a five-story building. On the stone steps. They make their way through the asphalt, sprout through the fences. I have always been attracted to this play of urban constructions and rebellious nature. Observing, rethinking the position of plants in our urban life, I create vessels that convey the spirit of these complex relationships."

In practice-led exploration of harmony between form, texture and the natural colour of the material, Evgeniia sets accents on raw beauty and sustainability. During the creative cycle, Evgeniia treats clay as a partner, being in constant dialogue, forming, but not controlling it. Every object she makes is unique and one of a kind.

“I can see the craft movement growing not only in the ceramic makers' community but through society, which turns more and more to higher quality, slower life. Exploring different sustainable initiatives, eventually, we conceive that exceptional design pieces can be made with little impact on the environment. I am proud to be among this bright movement and to move along with that direction.”