Draga & Aurel
Draga & Aurel is a multidisciplinary studio based in Como, Italy, founded in 2007 by Draga Obradovic and Aurel K. Basedow. Working across collectible design, art, and furniture, the duo has developed a distinctive practice that merges rigorous design research with an experimental artistic approach to material, composition, and form. Their work is characterized by a continuous dialogue between art and design, where craftsmanship, intuition, and material exploration play a central role.
Known for their innovative use of resin, transparency, and layered surfaces, Draga & Aurel create sculptural pieces that blur the boundaries between object and artwork. Drawing on backgrounds in fine art, fashion, and craftsmanship, they transform materials through a process of experimentation and discovery, producing works distinguished by bold color, tactile richness, and a strong emotional presence. Their creations have been exhibited internationally and are held in prominent galleries and collections, establishing the studio as a leading voice in contemporary collectible design.
Interview
I was born in Cacak, Serbia. When I was twenty, I moved to Italy.
I was seventeen; on the summer interrail trip, I visited the Uffizi in Italy, the Prado in Madrid, the Louvre in Paris, the National Gallery in London, etc, and I decided to become an artist.
My parents couldn’t afford to pay for my studies in Italy, so I have been working since I was twenty. I was a waitress, babysitter, Santa Claus, and fashion model.
At 26, I began my career in the fashion industry, first working in London and Milan as a textile designer. I had attended the Florence Academy of Fine Arts, and then, I eventually settled in Como. Here I founded the first atelier with Aurel, where we reinvented bespoke vintage design pieces.
It was all about it.
We like to be inspired by anything, from art to music, architecture to photography, literature to cinema, fashion to travel. During the process, it is important for us to discover “what lies behind,” the philosophy, the concept, to create pieces that are not just to use but can also influence and change culture and habits. Design is also a vehicle to make people think, and it has the power to create changes.
After a couple of energetic coffees, I usually go to our studio in the center of Como, where I work with my design, communication, and sales team. I spend most of my time here, but for the making-of phase, I often go to our workshop as well. There, we create the pieces of our collections. Both spaces are very close to my home, so I’m lucky to enjoy my lunch break at home, in relaxation, with Aurel as my chef 🙂
I always loved to experiment and explore the use of different materials in product design.
Resin has naturally become the distinctive signature of our brand. Resin is fluid in nature, which enables a fascinating variety of nuances and shades; it also allows us to play with transparency, refraction, and interaction with light. Resin is a material that produces unpredictable results. That’s why we feel it is particularly akin to us: we adore surprises and imperfections in our work as mistakes expand creativity”.
Concrete is definitely one of the preferred materials in our collections and collaborations because it is in total contraposition to the transparency and shininess of resin, and yet, at the same time, its workmanship and potential are so similar. This material is also dear to me because of my Serbian origin: it takes me back to the Brutalist period that introduced its aesthetics.
We process different materials: we cast resin in our studio, we experiment with concrete, and we print our unique patterns with the silkscreen.
Embrace free and unconditioned design! Think ‘outside the box’.
Rock design 😊 It probably doesn’t exist, but I’d like to create it to include a scratchy sort of design – like a Sex Pistols song. Because throughout our creations, we want to set a mood, to convey a feeling. We want an object that makes you feel something and acknowledge its presence.
I am in love Space Age design, Paco Rabanne, Pierre Cardine, Andre Courreges, Verner Panton, etc…There is a wide range of events and people which have inspired us: Dada movement, abstract American expressionism, cinema, design from the thirties to the sixties, Mark Rothko for his colours, Alighiero Boetti for his playing with coincidences, rock from ’70s for the mix of music and contents, Oscar Wilde for his irony.
Forma Fantasma, so forward and conceptual, and Vincenzo De Cotis.
Surely, one of Aurel’s idols is the American artist Richard Serra, one of the titans of modern art, and Vivienne Westwood is my queen. She was revolutionary, and it still is with her activism in designing a sustainable future.
We are also inspired by Donald Judd, Joseph, Joseph Kosuth, and Enzo Mari.
Soulsearching.
Art in reality is better!
“Design is also a vehicle to make people think, and it has the power to create changes.”
The Questions
(The Proust Questionnaire is a set of questions answered by the French writer Marcel Proust.
Other historical figures who have answered confession albums are Oscar Wilde,
Karl Marx, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Cézanne…)
Those moments when I feel in tune with everything around me, when I feel whole and allow myself to be it.
That the lockdown could last forever.
The guilt feeling. It is enough to point the finger and I start feeling guilty immediately.
Arrogance and avarice.
Patty Smith. She is a great artist and a loving human being.
The Turkish coffee grounds reading. Love to let my intuition flow with the figure depicted on coffee grounds.
This year I had Saturn against. Huge obstacles but I am proud of how I managed to overcome.
The coherency.
Generosity, authenticity, and sensuality.
Grace and intelligence.
C*zzo : Greek word that means wonder and fantasy 😉
I would like to read the people minds and to have the gift of ubiquity. I would like to have a lunch with my mother in Serbia and, in the meantime, to drink a coffee with my daughter in Turin.
Being able to eat anything I love without putting on weight 😉
Working and living together with Aurel now almost 30 years!!
I would love to try the feeling of being an Angel.
I’ve been in lot of places. I am happy where I am.
My ring with a pearl (present from Aurel).
To look passively at our planet suffering due to our inattention.
The creation.
Let me inspire.
They instil love in me but also brutal honesty and trust.
Philip Roth , Natalia Ginzburg, Jonathan Franzen.
Lisbeth Salander and the Stieg Larson Millennium trilogy.
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Anonymous people who risk their lives to save others. Like nurses, in this period of time.
Gemma , Giorgia, Suna.
Jessica and Brandon.
Having only one child.
When I feel ready…possibly quickly and painlessly.
What is essential is invisible to the eye (by the Little Prince).
“We want an object that makes you feel something and acknowledge its presence.”
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