I the hottest restaura ts of Paris, Cope hage a d the US, food is ofte served o the plates of Hu garia ceramist Ádám Szabó. Is there a yo e who would 't wa t such special dishware i their ow home tha that which ca be fou d i the coolest of restaura ts? For this very reaso , I visited Ádám i his showroom a few years ago, a d ot surprisi gly, I drove home with a few kilos of carefully shaped a d fired clay packed i to my car, which I’ve bee admiri g a d usi g almost every day si ce the . Eve more, I ought to tell you that I regard each item as priceless. I k ew that if I ever had the cha ce, I would be o e of the first to write about the way he creates his wares. What about your i ter atio al successes? I met several exceptio al customers. I first prepared plates for Wolfga g Puck for his restaura t i Budapest, ordered by chef Istvá Szá tó. The , duri g o e of his visits, Wolfga g came to see me, a d si ce the my works ca be fou d i his restaura ts i Los A geles a d i Malibu. It mea s a lot to me. For example, o ce, Dame Vivia Hu t, who served as a ma agi g part er for McKi sey a d is ow a se ior part er i the global ma ageme t co sulta t firm, a d is o e of the most i flue tial wome i the busi ess world, visited my showroom after bei g served di er o a plate I made at O yx. The porter from the Ritz called to make a appoi tme t for Vivie . She arrived with two bodyguards a d ordered several differe t sets for her houses. I this story, it mea t a lot that she also bought o e of my sculptures. There is less dema d for sculptures i Hu gary. It is difficult to sell ceramics, especially co temporary o es, o the domestic art market. What makes your ceramics differe t? How ca you create somethi g ew i this professio ? The most importa t thi g for me is to add u ique ess to the objects. Ceramics is based o thousa ds of years of traditio . It’s like carryi g water to the sea, so i ovatio is ot a primary aim. Desig s that have ot bee do e before are rather limited. How differe t is it to create a sculpture as opposed to a plate? If you make a cup of the same quality as a work of art, the i the same way, it ca be valued as a art piece. I do 't differe tiate betwee the forms that come out of the kil , whether they are works of art or everyday objects. Both are the same. My latest sculpture series is called ‘Covaria ce’, which i mathematics mea s the co-moveme t of two differe t variables. Cha ge is prese t i every part of our lives. For example, whe the Covid epidemic broke out all arou d the world, certai freedoms were removed from our lives. I made these cha ges felt i the sculptures. Photo: Gergő Pejkó Are you usually give a free ha d by your customers? They’re good at food, I’m good at ceramics. I’m lucky to be able to create freely. The fi al shape of the plates aturally fit the restaura t's style a d the chef's gastro omic co cept. But I also have somewhat more restricted works, for example, my Fre ch retailer works with a collectio I made especially for him. I also like to create collectio s for myself. The o e called ‘Oasis’ rece tly received a lot of positive feedback. The i spiratio for these bowls were circular oases. Do you remember your first project? I met Judit Merkler-Szá tó, who worked as the secretary of the Hu garia Europea Busi ess Cou cil (HEBC), at a exhibitio at the Museum of Applied Arts i 2014. Based o her idea, I had to prepare a busi ess set for a eve t where chefs A to io Fekete a d Attila Pillók were respo sible for the food. That was the milesto e I owe a lot to & dash; si ce the , the professio al goals that I had o ly previously hoped for happe ed i successio . What were those goals? Are there a y that are very special to you? Yes, for example, it mea t a lot to me whe my plates got i to the O yx restaura t. The place was o e of the stro gholds of Hu garia hospitality, o e could have the most sophisticated gastro omic experie ce there. It’s o coi cide ce that the Micheli Guide rewarded its performa ce with two stars. The i 2021, the restaura t was tra sformed i to a more laid-back gastro workshop, but my sculptures ca still be see there. O e of the most exciti g local projects is also co ected to O yx. We created a e viro me tally co scious servi g solutio for the Gourmet Festival, together with chef Ádám Mészáros a d the e tire restaura t staff. We molded 1,200 small clay pots from o e a d a half to s of clay. The way tea was served o the trai i I dia a lo g time ago, i si gle-use cups made of u fired clay, so they did 't e d up i the trash, but were throw out the wi dow. Some of the small clay bowls used at the Gourmet Festival were collected, which I reused. Hopefully, grass is growi g where people threw them away at the festival. Two Adams, two dumpli gs, two stars was the ame of the project, because the food i it was a plum dumpli g. Photo: Gergő Pejkó What opportu ities are ope to you ow? I rece tly worked o maki g gift items a d cateri g tools for the WTM Lo do a d IBTM Barcelo a eve ts. I the mea time, I also had some gigs i large film productio s, i which my products had to suit two film professio als & dash; o e is set decorator Zsuzsa a Sipos a d the other is visual desig er Sha e Vieau. Zsuzsa's ame ca be e cou tered almost always i co ectio with big film productio s i Hu gary. Last year, she wo a Oscar for her work o the film Du e. That's great, I’m related to Zsuzsa Sipos. Our gra dmothers are sisters. We have great gra dpare ts i commo . Ask her if she k ows me. What are your pla s for the sculptures? My sculptures are o display i Cope hage a d Paris, a d i a desig gallery i Tokyo. I rece tly had a joi t exhibitio with Júlia Végh i Budapest, tha ks to Lajos Barabás, o e of the biggest Hu garia art collectors. Photo: Kata Balogh How much of your time is take up by the creatio process? For years, I've bee doi g this from the mor i g to the eve i g. From the outset, I take the material i to my ha ds at least 30 times before a object is ready. Each step has parts where I eed to pay atte tio . If I work with half-fi ished ceramics at the wro g time or i the wro g way, they ca easily be rui ed. What are the limits of the tech ology you use? There are two groups of ceramics: earthe ware a d sto eware. Sto eware is actually melted glass, a d that's what I make. Specifically, it mea s 1,350 degrees i a wood-fired ove . This material o lo ger absorbs water. Therefore, it ca be used without a y ki d of glaze. Also, it ca be perfectly clea ed i the dishwasher. I ca o ly see the adva tages of worki g at high temperatures. O e thi g ca ot be achieved this way & dash; the gaudy colours & dash; because they o ly remai at lower temperatures. But I prefer purer, less bright colours. Our table is like a empty ca vas waiti g to be filled with colours a d shapes. Together with Ádám, we dreamed up a collectio that expresses the harmo y betwee ature a d moder desig . A refreshi g a d chic set. The good ews? It’s available here i limited qua tities.