Kapa – Herbarium

Kapa – Herbarium

Forged steel, porcelain, beeswax

Two contrasting materials – the fragile porcelain dyed in the mass is juxtaposed with the exceptional brutality of the second material, forming a herbarium with a handle.

Blacksmith steel processing requires great strength, fire and precision. By rhythmically beating it, the material obtains plasticity to finally capture the final form. It is an extraordinary process which results in unique surfaces. At the same time, what is required to forge steel can easily destroy porcelain and that is why this combination seems both unreasonable and at the same time so interesting.

The fragile, colored porcelain has been manually prepared. By matching the right temperature of kilning the ceramics maintain their porosity and minimum permeability to ensure better plant growth conditions. The neutral gray coloration perfectly fits the green herbs and the gleaming dark ironwork, reminiscent of Gdynia’s concrete quays.

Kãpa is a Kashubian word for clump. A plateau cut from the sea which creates the Baltic cliffs, we can treat it as a reference to the coastal clumps of herbs and grasses.

Wojciech Mierzwa, Metafor

An industrial designer, he graduated from the Design Institute of the Koszalin University of Technology and Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences. He works on the level of concepts, design, construction and implementation. He leads the design and construction studio Metafor, which functions as an external R+D department for manufacturing companies. The studio was created to have an active part in creating a new, more functional and aesthetic reality. Additionally, the designer designs furniture under the same brand.

www.metafor.pl

Leszek Supiński, Kowal Oliwski

An artist blacksmith. He is known as the Smith from Oliwa, working since 1994 in Oliwa. Since 2012 he has the title of a master blacksmith. He has won many blacksmithing tournaments in the country and abroad. In his work he combines both modern and old techniques, passed down from generation to generation. He works both on personal as well as commissioned projects, successfully creating projects for foreign customers. Many of his works can be found while walking around Gdansk, on the streets, in places of worship and in homes. After hours, in the comfort of the forge’s furnace he polishes his technique of forging melee weapons.