Designist Dream

The ceramic bowls and plates by Einat Cohen take my breath away. Something about the pastel, opalescent surfaces of the slip cast fruit peel bowls is so captivating that when my husband bought me one for my last birthday, I cried. Even though they’re simple fruit shapes, they seem profoundly complex to me: simultaneously organic and industrial, personal and mass produced, sweet and rotten, living and dying.

At first glance, the texture and ripples were so realistic, that I thought the bowl was an actual cast peel. The outsides of the bowls are painted in a variety of pale, pastel colors, while the insides are pearly white. The edges are unfinished, as if someone was eagerly peeling them off a fruit and not interested in keeping straight lines. And just like the real thing, each bowl is unique. In her own words, Cohen explains that she takes her cues from the world around her.

Soft, organic and asymmetrical, the forms are inspired by nature - mainly the sea and its creatures - as well as by quotidian functional objects typical of mass consumption culture.

The pale yellow pomelo featured above (which incidentally also now sits on my bedside table) is based on the well-known Israeli export. Not native to our country, but grown and eaten here a’plenty, Cohen’s bowls play with the process of mass production by adding a sticker normally found on supermarket produce to her ceramic fruit. Though here, instead of identifying the fruit’s farmers or country of origin, Cohen’s stickers feature her name and website. Thus making Cohen herself the new produce-r of an Israeli export-able product. (I’m punny)

For those who have never tasted a pomelo, I’m apparently better at describing a ceramic version than the actual taste. I claim it’s a cross between a sweet red grapefruit and a lime but so far, no one I’ve spoken to agrees. Neither have they offered any other suggestions though. Anyone out there have more luck painting their palate into words?