SIUP STUDIO & SOPHIE ROLAND
CLAY MOUNTAINS
In the work created by their hands, a craftsman allows us to see the world through their eyes. The same view, the same form, the same moment of inspiration can lead to very objects. These two studios both look to nature to inspire their clay creations, both use the form of mountains to inspire them, and we’ll explore what makes their work so unique from the other.
Doggo#1
Siup Studio is a collective made up of Polish artists Marcin Sieczka, Martina Dymek and Kasia Skoczylas. The three met while studying photography but decided to explore a different medium together. They now create one-of-a-kind objects from a shared studio space in Warsaw.
Clay, with its malleability, was a wonderful material for the studio to approach a new creative direction with a certain signature amount of play and intuition.
Doggo#3
The Siup artists take inspiration from nature and aim to work with a sense of freedom and experimentation. Founded in 2020, the studio is still relatively new, and each series of objects takes the trio to a new level of understanding their journey as collaborative artists.
“The concept of Siup is fun and experiment – we like to play with forms, colours and ideas,” say the artists. “Our items are all handmade and produced in small series.”
Doggo#4
The work included in the Cluster exhibition is a collection called Doggos, a series of ceramic objects inspired by the hair of dogs. The artists have taken some of the characteristics of a dog’s coat and transferred it on to mountain-shaped clay forms. Cluster’s online shop also features some of their other works for sale.
Doggo#6
These humorous, hybrid shapes feature bold colours and are aimed at invoking a sense of curiosity in the viewer.
YOU CAN BUY SIUP STUDIO’S PIECES THROUGH OUR ONLINE SHOP
French designer Sophie Roland also looks to nature to inspire the work she does with clay. Based in a studio just outside of Paris, Roland studied sculpture and painting and so also brings a mixed creative background to her artistic approach.
Unlike Siup Studio, with its childlike and fantastically expressive finishes, Roland’s work has a more meditative and deliberately calm presence. She embodies a quieter collaboration between material and maker.
“The fact that each piece is unique and different from another is essential in our jobs as artists” says Roland. “It's the craftsman's gesture in the piece that counts.”
While Siup Studio work with clay slabs, Roland often works with coiling techniques that allow her sculptures to grow slowly upwards while she works them into shapes that capture her interpretation of natural forms such as volcanoes.
“The inspiration comes from nature and mountains, especially the volcanoes of Auvergne with their rounded and soft shapes.”
Roland’s colour palette is close to the earthy tones one might associate with volcanic scenery. She chooses colours that don’t distract from the shapes of the pieces.
“I choose a very small colour palette; black, white and green. The forms are more important for me than colours,” says Roland.
The work exhibited by Sophie Roland in our Cluster digital exhibition is part of a series called Up Hill and Down Dale. The pieces for sale in the Cluster shop are from a new collection called Horn of Plenty, which were made specifically for the Cluster store during the second French lockdown.
Thank you for reading,
Katie De Klee & Cluster Team.