For Saturday Indesign 2026, we invited ten artists to transform selected pieces from our collection through their own creative practice, giving familiar Few & Far forms new meaning and expression.
Gonia brings an intuitive, colour-led approach to the exhibition, shaped by movement, texture and her instinct for composition.
Her creative journey began in Warsaw, where she completed a Master of Art at the European Academy of Art, training in painting, drawing, portraiture and still life. After more than a decade away from painting, Gonia returned to the canvas and found herself drawn somewhere entirely different – expressionist abstraction. Â
Colour now sits at the heart of her practice. She is fascinated by the way colours shift alongside one another, how contrast creates energy and how a layered palette can completely change the feeling of a canvas or room.
Her background in interiors continues to shape the way she thinks about balance, mood and composition. For Gonia, painting and design are not separate disciplines, but part of the same creative conversation.Â
I was immediately drawn to the shape of the Messe vase. It has such a strong, almost architectural form, but at the same time it feels organic and a little otherworldly.
The layered, irregular surface gave me so much to work with. I liked the idea of taking an object that already had a strong identity and seeing how I could change it through colour and paint.
I was surprised by how much the surface started to dictate the painting. Once I began adding colour, the ridges and grooves created their own movement, and the paint started behaving differently across each section.
The drips became almost part of the sculpture itself, which I really enjoyed.
I noticed how much movement there is in the form. From a distance, the vase seems quite structured, but when you look closely, every layer is slightly different.
There are all these little shadows, folds and irregularities that make it feel almost geological, like a relic.
I initially felt I wanted to completely transform the surface through colour. The idea evolved as I painted.
The shape and texture caused the paint to drip more expressively as I worked. I wanted to leave some room for the piece to surprise me.
After sanding the surface lightly, I painted directly onto the vase using acrylic paints.
I worked with layers of colour, building up darker and lighter areas and using the texture of the original surface to guide the application. I also allowed the paint to drip and run in places, so there is an element of chance within the process.
I wanted the paint to feel like it was becoming part of the form, not simply sitting on top of it.
Organic. Colourful. Otherworldly.
SEE MORE OF GONIA HERE.
We are a team of creatives, designers & curators with a love of
meaningful spaces, considered design and pieces made to be lived with.
