“KERAMIS”, a project created with cement (& not only!)

Keramis is a project born from the collaboration with Cement Design and Fooddesignstories.

Keramis can be used as a centerpiece or decorative element; it can be produced in different exemplars and colors, with or without a stamp, in a matt or glossy version. It’s inspired by the Byzantine tiles, found since the ancient times on the roofs of houses in the region of Northern Greece called Macedonia, the land of Alexander the Great.

I found the inspiration during a hot summer afternoon…I used a tile from the village of Assiros, a few kilometers from the city of Thessaloniki, which I then covered with the materials provided by Cement Design, adding natural pigments, the same as those used to make the icons of the Greek Orthodox rite. I used to make icons at the past and I still have the materials (Icons are painted in the traditional way using: natural pigments, egg, white vinegar).

Looking at the old tiles and houses around me I found amazing how time leaves it’s marks on the objects, in our lives, in our souls and cultures from generation to generation and in our history.

I can be anywhere in the world and feel home every time I change place but I know where my roots are.

So, I just wanted to recreate this patina of time on the Byzantine tile, which accompanies our senses on an ideal journey through the centuries of this mysterious and fascinating region, in which the stories and destinies of the Southern Mediterranean intertweave … Italy, France, Greece, ancient Byzantium, modern Istanbul.

Here’s my presentation of KERAMIS plate: