ÅOOMI Home Stories — Agnieszka Owsiany

Agnieszka Owsiany’s woven paintings emanate with organic serenity and harmony. We find a similar kind of subtlety in her Poznan apartment. Natural materials and balanced forms are the main features here. We visited the artist on a cold December day, and talked about her inspirations and creative practice over a hearty vegetarian meal she prepared.
Monika Mróz
12.5.2024
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Monika Mróz
12.5.2024
Your flat brings to my mind the mid-century interiors. How would you describe its style and are there any particular designers or architects that influenced you?

You could say that the style is defined by the architecture of the building. It’s a townhouse from the 30s and in comparison to other buildings in the neighbourhood, it is quite modern. I appreciate its simple details, such as clean arches, and a very practical floor plan. But the most important feature of this apartment is its location — it’s right at the edge of a beautiful park and while it’s very central, it is surrounded by greenery.

When it comes to interior, I don’t feel like any particular architectural styles have influenced me. I don’t use the word ‘modernist’ a lot, as it is used so often that it somehow lost its true meaning. When arranging my flat, I just try to follow my intuition. Over the years, I figured out what makes me feel comfortable in a space. My style is rather a mix of various feelings and experiences from my life, which work because they are consistently chosen by me.

Outside of the art world, where do you search for inspirations? 
I find inspiration in everything that travelling carries within - changing your surroundings, being on the road, the people you meet and places discovered by accident. It’s wonderful how much drive I get after each trip. Nature is also of great importance to me. It’s not a direct inspiration for my work, but I love how profoundly it affects all of my senses. After a walk in the forest or work in the garden, I am able to translate those sensations into new ideas. Running has also been a great tool for organizing my thoughts. Similarly, cooking makes me generally inspired - I just love the freedom and joy it gives me, and how genuinely carefree I feel while preparing meals. I would like to find a similar carefree feeling when making art, although it’s really hard as the latter requires a great emotional investment.
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It doesn’t make sense to follow any trends if they don’t represent what’s dear to our hearts.
What in your opinion adds to a feeling of home?
I think it’s essential for a house to reflect its owners. It doesn’t make sense to follow any trends if they don’t represent what’s dear to our hearts. In my case, I feel at home when surrounded by objects that are important to me. I recently brought here an old piano from my family house. I spent years playing on it when attending the Conservatory. A few generations of women from my family played this piano before me. In this case, I quite literally took a piece of my family house with me to my apartment.

And what makes a space cosy?
Again, cosy will mean something completely different for everyone. For me, a big part of it are light and wood, and they are very present in my house. Wood brings a certain kind of warmth into the space, and it presents an array of tones and textures that I really like to play with.

What home means to you?
On some days, home is my quiet place where I hide from the outside world. On others it’s a place full of life, filled with my friends with their children and dogs, where we all gather and cook together. In both of those versions, it’s my favourite place.
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Are there any particular emotions or a story that you want to tell through your paintings?
All that we create expresses emotions - that is art’s purpose, after all. For me, those emotions are very ephemeral: they come for a moment, create a tension inside me, and then leave. It would be perhaps easier to ask that question to my audience. What emotions do people feel when looking at my paintings? On the other hand, each day it can be different as each person comes in contact with art with their own emotions. I don’t analyze my feelings to much, I’m just trying to act under their influence.

Will you tell us what you prepared for us today?
Now, amidst long winter, I mainly eat various kinds of soups, even for breakfast. I became quite influenced by Chinese Medicine, which became an important guide on how to eat. I don’t follow its rules in extremes, but I am trying to take from it what helps me to feel good. We meet on a winter day, so I prepared a dish that’s perfect for the season: a chestnut soup with white beans, roasted poppy and rapseed oil. As a snack for the soup, I made crackers made from oat flour, nuts and dried fruits. I also baked a buckwheat bread that we will eat with a lot of butter and salt.

Fermented buckwheat bread:
- 500 g buckwheat (unroasted)
- water
- 2 teaspoons of salt 
- 2 table spoons of sesame 

Day 1: put buckwheat in a container, pour over the water, with around 0,5 cm above the level of the buckwheat. The grains absorb the water, so after some time you will need to add more water. Close the container and leave it in a warm place for 1 to 2 days.

Day 2/3: blend the buckwheat together with salt and the water it was soaking in. Next, put it in a baking form on a baking paper, cover with a cloth and put aside for further fermentation, for about 12h. I personally warm up the oven up to 30°C, turn it off and put the form inside.

After 12h, the dough should slightly grow in volume. Take the form out of the oven, warm it up to 200°C and  bake for about an hour. The skin of the bread should be brown.

Before serving, the bread needs to cool down entirely. Otherwise, it will fall apart when trying to slice warm.
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It seems to me that the rituals around food are important to you. What role does cooking play in your life?

Cooking and dining are one of the biggest pleasures in my life. I love buying ingredients at the farmer’s market on Saturdays and later gather my friends around the table to dine together. It’s the best in spring and summertime, when we put out a big table to the garden in the courtyard and we have long feasts there. Over the years, I understood what my grandmother would mean when she said about expressing love through feeding someone - I feel the same! Cooking is also very important for me in terms of nourishing and health, and it’s how I care for others and myself.

Why have you chosen the ROOT collection and line B mugs?
I have a mix of different ceramics at home, mainly gathered on various flea markets. I like pieces with simple forms and organic colors, sometimes with some imperfections. ROOT is a great fit for my collection. Mugs from line B instantly caught my eyes as they are quite original in comparison to a classic round mug.

What, in your opinion, makes an object timeless?
First of all, good materials that make an object old well. And of course its form, but that’s a whole different conversation!
Mugs from line B instantly caught my eyes as they are quite original in comparison to a classic round mug.
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Mugs from line B instantly caught my eyes as they are quite original in comparison to a classic round mug.
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