Toma Blok

Both graphic designer and artistic director, Toma Blok discovered the world of ceramics and working with clay after an encounter with an artisan in Burgundy. Absolutely fascinated by the material, by the very first objects created by man wielding ‘The Art of Fire’ (before the Age of Iron or Glass), and by the diversity of the techniques used in this art form, Blok decided to make ceramics his favorite mode of expression. These earthenware objects, produced and assembled by hand in limited series in the artist’s studio in Nogent-sur-Marne, are the fruit of centuries-old savoir-faire and bear the mark of ancestral expertise. Working with a pottery wheel, a slab, slip casting or engobe… the various techniques, essentially by hand with hardly any tools, require weeks of preparation and extreme patience. The final step of firing up exposes and sublimes Blok’s minimalistic and contemporary style with finesse. Objects are as beautiful as they are useful; to gift, collect or repurpose. The diptyque oval willingly joins in the fun of reinterpreting La Maison’s legendary style and becomes the source of inspiration, in all its aspects . With his innate sense for the refined, Toma Blok revisits the oval, transforming it into lids for candles, cups for tea and coffee and soap dishes.