Ceramics with passion

STRATUS: CERAMICS WITH PASSION

In the summer issue of M Magazine we would like to introduce Mr Krzysztof Bocian, a designer and ceramist, the Stratus brand owner and creator of unique functional ceramics.

Krzysztof is one of those who have given up their careers (the marine career in his case) to follow their dreams. Just read his story and view the exceptional ceramics he makes.

Stratus: Krzysztof’s memories

Af ter a year spent at the Gdynia Maritime University, I’d already got a rough idea of what my career would be like and decided it wasn’t for me. Eventually, I graduated from the Printing Technology Department at the Warsaw University of Technology and worked in the printing industry for a couple of years. I had a great job designing packaging and other cardboard products; a bit of technology and a bit of creativity. Unfortunately, a constant tightening of the screws on you so that tasks are performed and deadlines are met causes wear and tear in the end. Such was the case with me. I saved enough money to open my own ceramic studio, though. I made ceramics to commission, gathered knowledge and experience. I created small collections of pottery. After six years, I did something I could call my first big success. It was in 2018 when the Stratus brand came into being.

However, let’s go 8 years back. The story of my ceramics begins in a very ordinary way. You always have to start somehow. Preferably from scratch, nothing. Nothing – that was what I knew about ceramics when I attended the ceramics workshops for the first time in my life. I was looking for a new hobby. I really took to it and decided I might as well

do it at home. The only drawback to my idea was that I had to take the created pieces for firing in a ceramic kiln somewhere. And I did it, packing them carefully and watching out for potholes in the road so that they would get to the kiln in one piece.

“I’ll make ceramics.” Having taken the decision, I signed a lease agreement to rent a studio and so it went off somehow. Somehow is a key word because at the beginning it wasn’t actually somehow but rather anyhow. Let me pause here to say that I had no background in ceramic engineering and no knowledge of how to make ceramics. Technology was one thing. The other, probably more important one, was my lack of background in art, design. For years, I hadn’t For the whole story and the current offer of the Stratus products, we invite you, on behalf of Krzysztof Bocian, to visit the website: stratusceramics.com

paid much attention to what the things around me looked like; they were often just bland. I was brought up like this: frugality and functionality were put first. Design is a delicate matter, a matter of taste, and there’s no accounting for taste (I know now there is accounting for taste all around the world and much good results from this).

What I had to do was to learn technology and design. It takes students around 5 years to do it and in the case of art schools the education ends with a diploma work usually in the form of a design which has come into being. I like thinking about the way I followed just like that and I consider the Stratus collection pieces as the successful culmination of a few years of trial and error, exploration, learning the techniques and materials. Ceramics is a very powerful means of expression. I managed to find in it what is most in tune with myself and my sense of aesthetics. My determination and consistency helped me, as did my wife’s support. I wouldn’t be where I am today and there wouldn’t be the Stratus brand if it weren’t for her.

The features of this collection, its rawness and texture, were to some extent a matter of chance, as is often the case. However, being consistent with my idea of design, they immediately embedded themselves in my head. It was 2014 and I was creating my entry for the 11th International Ceramics Biennale of the KERAMOS Association with the theme “Game”. I was looking for a way to achieve interesting, raw, somewhat dark texture and colour of the ceramic bottles that made up my sculpture. Thanks to various experiments, I managed to find the right material and I did exactly what I wanted to. I fired the complete work using a very interesting raku technique.

After the exhibition, I returned to my everyday work: made ceramics to commission, ran ceramic workshops and created my own ceramic collections I wasn’t satisfied with. Time went by and I worked feeling that I still wasn’t fulfilling the dream I’d had at the start of my career as a ceramist. The dream was obviously to create my own original style, my very own ceramic collection; the design of my sculpture tempted with its rawness and its darkness.

Sometime around 2016, a very slow yet steady design process began. The technology of producing functional ceramics differs very much from the raku firing, which is more of an artistic technique. Before I started designing the first Stratus collection piece, that is a 400 ml mug, I had performed a series of fairly complicated trials; from the colouring of the clay, through the development of the technique for creating the model and the plaster mould, to the finishing and firing. The whole process took as long as 2 years, but seeing the progress I knew I would finally reach the goal. And I did it! In September 2018, I debuted with the first Stratus brand mug, which received a very warm welcome. The austere raw design and the original matt texture appealed to many viewers right away.

THE NEXT ISSUE OF OUR MAGAZINE WILL BE AVAILABLE IN OCTOBER

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