Michal and Wanana welcome us to their home.
Michal Korycki is a Polish-born South African architect and sculptor. His venture into sculpture was supported by 20 years of a distinguished architectural career. Having co-founded Craft of Architecture and later Mobius, Michal has found himself needing to balance his professional service with a more personal outlook. "My criteria was simple; it had to be hands-on & honest, no computers, no drafting and designing, no attachment to outcome or expectations."
Korycki's interests and familiarity with the assemblage are evident throughout his work. Working with clay he creates abstract and deconstructed ceramic sculptures rooted in architecture. Korycki lives and works in Cape Town.
B.M: What drew you to sculpture and working with clay?
M.K: I am an architect by profession, and in my twenty years of practice, I have assembled a few thousand digital models and 3D building proposals - public spaces, private homes, and furniture details. I have also seen many projects from concept to completion, and the majority of my time has been spent creating buildings and spaces. In many ways, I see my sculptural work as an extension of this.
Form-making and assembling is not new to me, however in architectural practice, we sketch, we do spatial planning, we calculate - we refine and measure, doing all of this in strict accordance with brief & regulations. It’s a very technical process that is solved graphically. So in my sculptural work, I like to be spontaneous and experimental. There is no planning, drawing or measuring - I start working, and things happen as I go.
There is no planning, drawing or measuring - I start working, and things happen as I go.
I have only ever worked with clay - it’s an amazing material that is always changing. From the moment you expose a lump of clay to air it begins to dry and shrink, and so in this regard, you’re always on a stopwatch. But it’s also, in its way, a sensitive material and also very adaptable. I assemble forms, and then I stand back as the clay dries - they push and pull against themselves and find some kind of balance. This gets heightened as the piece is fired in the kiln, with temperatures reaching a thousand degrees. The clay then slumps a bit - it resets when it cools.
I can never be disappointed in this process; working with clay is about allowing the clay to happen, to do its own thing, as much as you guide the process too. I don’t ever experience labouring over pieces only to be disappointed; I am always surprised by the outcome.
I try to express the material that lies within the works. Clay begins as wet or moist, and this allows me to manipulate or bend it and then let it set - a way of freezing a moment of flexibility and motion into a permanent state. As an architect, I have been exposed to clay as it exists in homes and buildings - so an influence for me has been going to factories where moulds are made for basins and how they get processed and mixed.
B.M: Could you share how the architecture inspired your sculptures?
M.K: I see architecture as a series of relationships and processes. For me, a true inquiry into architecture shows that it is not the finished building but rather the process of very intimate, dynamic and innate relationships and tensions between people, materials, and surroundings. These interdependent cords inspire my work.
B.M: What role do sustainability and ethical considerations play in your artistic process, especially when working with clay as a medium?
M.K: Clay is considered a sustainable material. It is a naturally occurring resource that can be harvested without causing environmental harm. It is also reusable and recyclable. I enjoy these qualities and in my process always reuse and recycle entire components - whole or crushed to add to the clay as grog.
B.M: How do you think your sculptures reflect the values and ethics that Loading Bay stands for?
M.K: Yes, my ethical principles revolve around being honest and true to the materials, allowing their inherent qualities to shine through, expressing myself authentically, and providing a sensory experience.
B.M: How do you think your sculptures reflect the values and ethics that Loading Bay stands for?
M.K: Yes, my ethical principles revolve around being honest and true to the materials, allowing their inherent qualities to shine through, expressing myself authentically, and providing a sensory experience.
B.M: Particular challenges when working on sculpture and how they are overcome?
M.K: Gravity! WIP
B.M: How do you envision sculptures in relation to the spaces they inhabit, similar to how Loading Bay carefully selects products that fit within its environment?
M.K: Today, mass production and digital experiences are everywhere, and I find that to counter this there is a growing desire for more soulful and tactile elements in both our private and shared spaces. What I love about sculpture as an art form is that at a simply physical, aesthetic level, it can completely transform the atmosphere of a space, but it also has the capacity to represent more significant social issues, and universal emotions, and so in that way can contribute to broader cultural conversations and movements. The power of art can inspire meaningful dialogue and motivate people to take action.
B.M: What aspects of Loading Bay's philosophy and values resonate the most, and how do they align with your artistic principles?
M.K: Loading Bay emphasises honesty with ingredients and products that are natural and sustainable. Everything is done with intention, creating valued experiences that are informed, but also humbling. Passion, integrity, and respect are all values I hope to articulate in my work - both in the experience of creation and in the end product.
Michal Korychi Projects and exhibitions:
Death Row Dinner, group show - The Fourth (2021) with works shown at the Cape Town Art Fair Got Junk Volume II - The Fourth (2022)
Of Form, solo show - The Fourth (2022)Turbine Art Fair 2023 - Anthony Shapiro
Got Junk Volume III - The Fourth (2023) With Feeling, Group Show - 99 Loop (20223)
Images Photographed by Christian Mangachena