Zofia Ursic Sobolewska
Straw marquetry maker
Krakow, Poland
Recommended by Anna Woźniak-Starak
From architecture to intarsia
- Zofia creates contemporary sculptural furniture with straw intarsia
- She studied straw marquetry at Atelier Lison de Caunes in Paris
- Her dynamic pieces include jewellery boxes, cabinets and coffee tables
Zofia Ursic Sobolewska’s sculptural straw marquetry pieces are indebted to her education as an architect and her passion for beautiful interiors pieces. After gaining a degree in architecture from Kraków University of Technology and Universität für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna, she studied under the direction of Wolf D. Prix and Zaha Hadid in Austria. It took a straw marquetry course at Atelier Lison de Caunes in Paris to enable Zofia to pursue her true passion. “I was always very close to artisanship, and it felt natural to move from designing interiors to creating interior pieces,” she says. Her sculptural items are made with straw intarsia, a centuries-old technique that involves creating intricate imagery on a surface. Zofia works principally with carved wood, stone and woven metal. Her furniture objects combine artistic sensitivity and calculated functionality, taking inspiration from historic marquetry as she crafts contemporary design pieces.
INTERVIEW
As an architect by education, I am used to designing interiors. Before getting into the craft, I noticed I was creating more and more unique interior objects, made from stone, wood and metal.
I saw some samples from Atelier Lison de Caunes. They featured a material that I did not know, and it amazed me. I was determined then to enroll in the atelier to study straw marquetry. It took me two years of trying to get a place until I could finally study the craft.
I first made a series of lamps in stone and fabric. My first objects in straw were small boxes, and then I took part in the KUNSZT competition, which was a great challenge for me. The cabinet I designed won the competition.
The KUNSZT competition was demanding and pushed me out of my comfort zone. Because of the time constraint, I could not do the project on my own, so I had to hire people and teach them the technique. We finished the object on time and it was magnificent.
