MOZI Studio is a design duo that moves between craftsmanship and experimentation with equal ease. Monika Gradzik and Ziemowit Liszek create projects in which digital technologies meet sculptural tradition and contemporary art is intertwined with the idea of sustainability. Their works elude categories, which is why they attract so much attention. Examples include the Huby lamps designed by the studio (we wrote about them HERE) or one of their latest furniture and lamp designs made from biodegradable materials (read HERE). What does their creative work look like?
Kamil Białas: How was Mozi Studio born and what was the impulse to start working together?
MOZI Studio: We’ve known each other since high school and always promised each other that we would create something together. At first, we just wanted to design furniture and have it made. However, it turned out that making a few prototypes cost as much as buying our first carpentry tools. So we decided that we would make the furniture ourselves. We started to equip ourselves with various machines (it started with carpentry) and ended up with a workshop for carpentry, ceramics, metalworking and, as of this year, plastic processing. In fact, everything that comes out of us is made by us, we subcontract almost nothing. Over the years, the amount of furniture we create has decreased and the number of design and art projects has increased.
Why did you decide to join the Tricity in your professional and personal life?
We come from Gdynia, we were born here, we have our studios in Gdynia and we cannot imagine working anywhere else. We had and still have a lot of opportunities to develop and act here. The Tricity is a very nice place to live and work. In particular the proximity to the sea and the beach, this is very valuable to us.
What does your typical working day look like?
Within the commercial part, we mainly focus on our own realisations. In parallel to this, we run the foundation. A typical day? There is no routine! It all depends on what we’re working on at the moment, as one day we’re welding a three-metre sculpture, another we’re making concrete casts and another a series of ceramics. We spend most of the day in the studio. We work with all sorts of materials there. Wood, metal, ceramics, concrete, plastic… all in all, we feel comfortable with every material, and every working day can look different.
The second part of our activity is the foundation, where we have the opportunity to promote culture and craftsmanship. Thanks to the foundation, we are able to co-manage two establishments – tuBaza and Prototypes with a very interesting event and workshop programme, and here we also focus on projects that have more of a social impact.
How do you combine traditional craft techniques with modern technologies?
We treat new technologies as an extension of our language of artistic expression and as another tool in the palette, not to replace anything with them.
New technologies speed up the work and allow us to test different forms or ideas in a quick time frame. Craft, on the other hand, requires the dedication of this time and individual interpretation. In craftsmanship, the work changes on the fly, it rarely looks like the initial design, it bears the individual characteristics of the author. The most difficult thing is the balance between one approach and the other. We use digital tools at the concept and prototyping stage, this also makes working with the client very efficient. In our case, the human hand and experience are still key, the new technologies are just a form of support for them. Artisanal techniques bring authenticity and new techniques bring order, speed up but also enhance the end result of the work.
At MOZI, we treat modern technology and traditional craftsmanship as naturally complementary. One example is the lamp, which was entirely printed from pha (a biopolymer made from bacteria) filament, while we made additional elements from recycled aluminium in our small metal foundry. They also allow us to experiment freely with the material. Our last project was based on working with a new raw material – pha/phb biopolymers, produced by bacteria. This project involved close collaboration with experts from other industries. Substantive support was provided by biochemist Magda Kozak from the University of Gdansk.
Experiments with a material or technology can completely influence a project and change the effect you envisaged?
We once worked on a welded human skull. It was a difficult project because the skull was over 3 m high. In the first stage of our work, we did not know what profiles, bars or sheets we would choose. It was only with time that we came to understand how to build the mould. We were not able to predict the result, but it turned out really well! However, we usually start by making material samples and prototypes, especially if we are working on a large-scale project. There are times when the way something is made may change due to material or scale requirements. This is exactly what happened with pha/phb biopolymers, we found that this material is quite difficult to work with and we had to think hard about how to work with it.
I remember writing about your Huby project. Solar lamps hung on trees. The article was very popular. What makes this project special? Have the Hubs gone into production? Can they be purchased?
This was an example of a site-specific installation, i.e. designed with a specific location in mind. We treat the Hubs as a one-off art installation, while there were actually quite a few enquiries at the time as to whether the lamps would go into production. This did not happen. This project was unique in many ways, the lamps are sadly no longer there, a park with traditional lighting, paths and furniture has been created in this location. Our installation was a foreshadowing of what would happen at this location. The hubs had been in place for two years, illuminating a path used by residents of the Oksywie estate in Gdynia, near the Shipyard, to take shortcuts. For us, this project was unique because each lamp was a copy of a real hub found in the forest. Each was powered by photovoltaics and only switched on when someone appeared on that path. The lamps acted as a kind of network. We wanted to reflect the specific atmosphere of the place and create something that coexists with nature and does not disturb it. It was very important how these lamps would work in this space during the day and not just at night. We really like this project!
Which has been the most challenging project for you so far?
Definitely the bioplastics project. Early on, we had to raise the funds to design and build machines suitable for working with plastics, and it took us more than seven years to get from the initial idea to the first products. The semi-finished product, the boards that we managed to produce, turned out to be much more demanding than we had anticipated at the start. We had a lot of problems with the processing and only after many trials did we figure out how to work with it properly. At the initial stage, this was by far the most demanding project we had faced to date, both technologically and organisationally.
Let’s talk about another one. The GLËNA project combines ceramics with Kashubian tradition. What was the most valuable element for you when working on this project?
GLËNA allowed us to rediscover Kashubian culture and give it its proper place and meaning in a contemporary context. We wanted to treat tradition not as a folklore quotation, but as a source of inspiration that could be creatively processed. We are familiar with the inferior quality of these motifs. We wanted to change this, hence the creative interpretation. Two editions of the GLËNA project related to Kashubia are behind us. It was great that we could invite people who had no experience with ceramics to participate. Now we are in the process of implementing the European edition of this project. We have invited twelve female artists active in Europe who, when designing, are inspired by motifs close to their places of origin. We have female artists, from Poland, Ukraine, Austria, Italy, but also from Colombia and Mexico. This is one of our bigger foundation projects in 2025 and 2026. From spring 2026, there will be exhibitions that will open in Gdynia (at tuBaz), Vienna and Montepulciano, Italy.
Do collaborations with local artists influence your style and design language?
The only one who has influenced our work, in fact, has been Daniel Chazme, with whom we created two large-format concrete reliefs. Daniel is a painter and we are still occasionally inspired by his paintings, other than that we are unlikely to be inspired by others.
Let’s go back to the commercial part. How do you approach bespoke projects? Where does the client’s vision end and your own interpretation begin?
Usually the clients we work with are familiar with our aesthetic. They are always our original designs, or responses to client demand. It has yet to happen that our proposal somehow deviates very much from the client’s vision, most often both parties are satisfied. Importantly, we are open to communication in the working process. We always start with material samples and prototypes, so we can present our concept in a pictorial and physical way. We don’t just show visuals, we rely on prototypes, this makes collaboration very easy.
Art education and workshops are such an important part of your business. Why?
It’s one of the main parts of our foundation work. Education comes naturally to us. We run our own workshops in a friendly, non-hierarchical atmosphere where you can experiment and find your own way, which is how we operate at tuBase and ProtoTypes in the Pomeranian Science and Technology Park. Both locations are places for meetings, work and artistic residencies. TuBaza in particular is such a place. We have a great fondness for it because we have been creating it for ten years now together with the Morze Foundation. A lot of workshops, meetings are organised there every year, and we have quite a nice exhibition space that we make available to creatives, students and artists.
What new directions and projects do you plan to develop in the coming years?
Larger objects, individual art. We don’t want to broaden the scope of activities any more, but to focus more on our own works, not just those made on commission. We are increasingly focusing on our own artistic realisations – installations, sculptures and bas-reliefs. We already have projects planned for the coming year and we are seeing a clear increase in interest in art present in everyday surroundings and public spaces. We work with private clients as well as developers, architects or public institutions.
In the coming years, we will also definitely continue and develop the pha/phb bioplastics project. Knowing that we are making products from the ‘fat’ of bacteria is fascinating for us. We plan to spend 2026 developing, optimising and implementing the solutions we have already developed. We would like to permanently implement and promote pha/phb as a usable material and spread awareness of a material that we feel is not talked about enough.
Finally, what are your three favourite places in the Tricity?
First of all, tuBaza! Drop in for workshops and exhibitions, especially as it’s in the beautiful Kolibki Park. We also love being by the sea itself. The wild beach in Gdynia Redłowo is the perfect place for a walk or a bonfire. Last but not least, Elektraów and the Shipyard in Gdańsk – art, food, music…. See you there!
source: MOZI Studio(https://mozistudio.pl)
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