1. Where were you born and where are you from ?

I am Polish, born in Poland. My hometown, Zielona Góra, in the western part of the country. Right now, our design studio is located in Wroclaw.

2. What is your first memory connected to the art world ?

I remember my regular bike route to athletic training. I used to ride by the municipal art gallery BWA (the Art Exhibitions Bureau). On the façade there was, and still is, a relief by Marian Szpakowki, an avant-garde Polish artist. It was always the most tempting piece standing out from the neo-baroque tenement houses surrounding it.

3. Have you always worked in the art/design field ?

My first dream was to be a professional sportsman. I used to be a determined athlete. When it came to choosing my university, I had an inner dilemma between architecture school and the physical education academy. I chose architecture, and that is how my current life route began.

4. What led you to the design creation ?

It was a process, like everything I do. People call me a process designer, and I consider myself that. I started with working on methods of the stabilization of steel at ETH Zürich. The time in Switzerland grounded my passion for metal. I explored its technical features and possibilities for deformation. Maximized stabilization brought me to the world of beautiful and functional objects—that is what we consider to be design. But I never tend to limit myself with any definition. I love the spaces “in between” and I gladly jump between.

5. How would you describe your creative process and it influences ?

That is a tricky question, because I could say that I treat creation as a constant and complex process itself. I observe nature, its structuring and colorization contexts. I often look into the sky, feeding my fascination with cosmic wonders. I am obsessed with light reflections in the meaning of both their aesthetics and interference. My brain is a multi-layered construct of art, emotions, and physics. As a consequence, the creative process that you ask about is a complex narrative about me experiencing reality, trying to interpret it in metal deformations.

6. Could you describe a typical day of your work ?

If your work is your passion, you do not feel you are at work, because you enjoy it. This is my case – I love what I do. I try to balance myself between being a creator, engineer, salesman, craftsman, and head of my studio. It is challenging, but I have to say I like it. Thanks to this, I can consider my life an unpredictable adventure. 

7. Why did you choose the specific materials you work with ?

From the very beginning, I was fascinated with metal and the techniques of processing, forming, and stabilizing it. I believe that my way to it was paved by my grandfather, who was a “blacksmith 1.0,” as I like to call him. My major interest used to be steel, especially during university times. Now I have grown up to experiment with various metals, like aluminium and copper. Sometimes I call myself the Blacksmith 4.0.

8. What are the technical particularities of your creations ?

Each object of mine is filled with technical particularities—even though it is literally empty inside. I developed the manufacturing process FiDU (from the German Freie Innendruck Umformung), which is an acronym for a free internal pressure forming. Every object I create is a complex study of material, form, and stabilization. At Zieta Studio, we rely heavily on robotics—parametric design, laser cutting, welding, 3D printing, and scanning. Each stage is strongly based on both new technologies and human potential. If I need to point out a certain particularity, I would say it is air. Without inflating, there is no deformation.

9. What advices could you give to beginning artists who would like to create sculptural design works ?

Sculptures are the essence of stabilization. If not for the early human body studies by Michelangelo, among others, we might not deliver a perfectly crafted impression of sculptured selves. Material studies are the core issue. Later you go through experimentation, research, and constant contact with your creative self. And the advice? Create and never be afraid of failures.

10. If your works had to belong to a design movement, in which one would you define it ?

Design is a point on the matrix of creation that I touch, but it is not set by a definition. For me, it is a prism of interdisciplinarity—art, bionics, and technology.

11. What designers have influenced you ?

I was fascinated by the creations of French architect and designer Jean Prouvé. I analyzed more than 20 years ago and whose way of thinking inspired me. I asked myself what a world of his metal structures could look like if he could use the current potential of new technologies.

12. What contemporary designers do you appreciate ?

I don’t want to point only one. I admire all creators with passion, charisma, and determination to stick with their fascinations.

13. What contemporary artists (in any kind of art) have you been inspired by ?

Again, it is difficult to cultivate only one. I believe that at a certain point in our life different works of art influence us – both consciously and subconsciously while we are kids.

14. If you had to summarize your creations in one word or sentence, what would it be ?

Controlled loss of control.

15. Is there anything you would like to add ?

We blow with love 🙂

Proust Questionnaire with very short answers (one or a few words) :
(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…)