Olivia Cognet
French
Since moving to Los Angeles in 2016, French artist and desi- gner Olivia Cognet has focused on ceramics as the fertile medium through which she expresses her boundless creativity. With the freedom this material affords to explore every type of shape and size, she creates monumental bas-reliefs and giant to- tems as well as chairs, tables, lamps and vases. These unique pieces, handmade by the artist in her studio, all share the same high aesthetic, abstract and graphic standards. She draws inspiration from the lights and shadows of the landscapes of California, its modernist architecture and intense nature. Infusing a modern take on the great tradition of decorative arts, her works are both functional and powerfully evocative. Olivia Cognet grew up in Nice on the Co^te d’Azur, studied at the Villa Arson and was nourished by the brilliant masters from the school of Vallauris, from Picasso to Roger Capron; for her, ceramics are a key element of architecture. She starts by exploring ideas on paper, before moving to stoneware, using a local clay that comes in three natural shades. Her designs showcase the power of contrasts; her minimal, geome- tric lines are interwoven with a sensual and organic vocabulary. The austere aesthetic of rough clay is heightened by the elegance of the crackle glazes, which generate singular effects. Elsewhere, ethereal excrescences defy the laws of gravity. Day after day, guided by her intuition, Olivia Cognet reinvents the poetic experience of creation, fashioning work through the purity of the material. This is the magic of the artisan, combined with the promise of vibrant beauty, to enhance everyday life.
