Estet Studio is a ceramic studio founded by Bara Barovska. Based on a quiet street, Ny Vestergade, in downtown Copenhagen, the studio offers ceramic workshops, dry flowers and handmade pottery. We had the pleasure to sit down with Bara and ask her a couple of questions touching upon her inspiration, work and her creative process.
Before we dive into your work, could you please put us back in time and tell us more about the actual moment or event that triggered your interest to work with clay?
It’s difficult to find one specific moment in time, but I still have vivid memories of my first encounter with clay, when I was at university back in Slovakia. It was a wheel-throwing class with a blind teacher. It left a strong impression on me and from that time on I was getting into the craft more and more. Another key moment was my work with local ceramicist Lillian in Copenhagen, with whom I could explore new possibilities and techniques in the ceramics practice.
How did you come across opening ESTET studio? Was it planned, or has that happened by accident?
Well, it was a bit of both. I was always thinking how nice it could be to have a creative space of some sort. At the time I was also into developing the idea of seasonal, locally grown flowers, and there it all started.
I was living in an apartment above our current studio for several years. Moving out I had such a hard time saying goodbye to that place, to that beautiful historic building. Once I saw the door open to the cellar space facing the street in our building, where an old man was tediously painting the walls. I slipped in and as I was walking through the space I already visualised tables and shelves for ceramics together with all the beauty of flowers. It was a great space to work with flowers and it had everything that was needed to start a ceramics studio, even a high voltage plug. It may seem random, but for me, it was a sign. So I followed what came my way and made the decision to rent the space with a vision to create a co-working space for people interested in the ceramics craft while I could also work with the idea of organic flowers and thus connect the two.
What name does ESTET represent to you?
Name ESTET was derived from Aesthete- a person with a sense and an appreciation for beauty. It’s tightly connected with my personality and perception of things around me. I was also studying Aesthetics so it has been with me for a long time.
What does your creative approach to ceramics look like? Does your creative process follow specific patterns, or is it slightly different for every project?
The only pattern I can see in my work is ‘’no pattern’’. I always try to embrace things as they come to me and use materials and situations around to create something new.
Where do you seek inspiration?
Inspiration appears in most unexpected moments to me. It is nothing I look for, it comes suddenly, one just needs to be ready to grasp it.
What does creativity mean to you?
Well, that’s not easy to say. It has so many layers to think about. Though, I very much admire someone’s capacity to combine elements of dissonance to create harmony as well as if one can create beauty from lack.