‘Are you from the industry? I don’t work for industry anymore.’ Such was the response of octogenarian Paris-based ceramic artist Alev Siesbye to the founders of Danish design brand Raawii – Bo Raahauge and Nicholai Wiig Hansen – when they approached her about a collaboration.
The pair, who founded their brand in 2017, regarded Alev Siesbye as an icon. ‘We had this idea that we shared the same DNA in our approach to design,’ says Wiig Hansen. That turned out to be truer than they could imagine: when they finally met (after some persuasion from the duo) at Siesbye’s Paris atelier, she showed them photographs from her time in Skagen, northern Denmark, an artist hub in the 1960s. Several were taken at Wiig Hansen’s family home (his parents being Danish artist Svend Wiig Hansen and ceramist Leila Sallyman). Siesbye had been a ceramicist at the Royal Copenhagen factory, creating stoneware and porcelain pieces, while experimenting in her studio. She moved to Paris in the 1980s, and developed a signature style that mixes precision, simplicity and vibrant colour.
Vase (top), cups and 'Bon' box from the Alev collection
Within minutes of Raahauge and Wiig Hansen’s arrival, Siesbye started sketching. ‘They convinced me by their eagerness for quality, their enthusiasm and their energy,’ she says. And so began Raawii’s new collection. Titled Alev, it features cups, vases, bonbonnières and bowls in a palette of blue, green, pink and grey. ‘Colours are very important to me,’ says the artist. ‘It is often the shape that decides the colour, or the opposite.
When shown together, the collection has to be harmonious, like a musical phrase.’ She visited Raawii’s factory in Portugal and spent a week working closely with the almost all-female team to perfect shapes and colours. Working alongside makers, she notes, has always been a source of joy. Adds Raahauge: ‘It became almost symbiotic, everybody played a vital role, and Alev’s positive vibes and creativity were at the centre of it all.’
INFORMATION
The Alev collection by Raawii is available from the Wallpaper*STORE
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors' picks of the weekThe London office of Wallpaper* had a very important visitor this week. Elsewhere, the team traverse a week at Frieze
-
Alexandre de Betak on getting lost to find himself in LondonAs the world-renowned artistic director opens his first personal studio in London during Frieze Week, Alexandre de Betak reflects on leaving the fashion runway behind to explore light, space and creative freedom
-
Step inside Faye Toogood's intimate cabinet of curiosities at PAD LondonFor PAD London 2025, (until 19 October) Faye Toogood presents The Magpie’s Nest with Friedman Benda
-
Ones to Watch: Plaster Paris Studio unites brutalism and bohemiaDesigners Tessa Rose Vardy and Olivia Engelhardt draw inspiration from the urban landscape of Paris and the laidback warmth of the Balearics
-
Lois Samuels’ ceramics invite us to find beauty in imperfectionOn view at Twentieth in Los Angeles, the artist’s unglazed ceramics explore ‘life’s intricacies and magic’, she says
-
FMG’s technical ceramics, an astronaut, and a brave new world: watch the campaignWith its Live New Worlds campaign, FMG Fabbrica Marmi e Graniti, Italy’s premium porcelain stoneware specialist, explores new strata of creativity
-
Tokyo design studio We+ transforms microalgae into coloursCould microalgae be the sustainable pigment of the future? A Japanese research project investigates
-
Ludmilla Balkis’ organic, earthy ceramics embody the Basque countrysideThe sculptor-ceramicist presents a series inspired by and created from found natural objects in a New York exhibition
-
Nature sets the pace for Alex Monroe’s first sculpture exhibitionThe British designer hops from jewellery to sculpture for his new exhibition at the Garden Museum, London. Here, he tells us why nature should be at the forefront of design
-
Faye Toogood comes up roses at Milan Design Week 2025Japanese ceramics specialist Noritake’s design collection blossoms with a bold floral series by Faye Toogood
-
Pierce Brosnan and Hering Berlin's ceramic vases explore love, loss and renewalActor and artist Pierce Brosnan translates his ‘So Many Dreams’ artworks to Hering Berlin ceramic vases in a new limited edition
