Tadeas Podracky

The Metamorphosis collection seeks to enhance the emotional bond to our surrounding environment. During the Coronavirus outbreak Podracký returned to Prague his home town and spent a couple of months in a quarantine in his studio there. Access to materials was minimal but he turned this handicap into a research opportunity and started to work only with material found around the studio or that were easy to access, such as wood, textiles, trash such as old car parts, old ceramic pieces or broken glass sheets. Tadeáš realized that these materials had a certain authenticity and so began reevaluating the way he approached the materiality, challenging himself to dis-acknowledge deeply rooted principles of formal design, interrupting established practices of conventional construction methods. The designer was seeking the authenticity of expression and changed his design methodology based on the intuitive use of materials and emotional decisions regarding structure, shape and the construction process. The aim was to let the object grow through his hands by gluing and combining different elements, reminiscent of the process of a bird weaving its nest. This approach allowed him complete freedom, resulting in an unpredictable outcome depending only on authentic personal expression.