LONDON.- Presenting Vas Florum: Resina Botanica, a new exhibition of work by Marcin Rusak, the multidisciplinary artist and designer known for using flowers and other organic matter to explore themes related to decomposition, preservation and the passage of time. Featuring new pieces that continue Rusak’s explorations of coffee tables, and vases as functional contemporary artworks, the exhibition is a tribute to the evocative power of plants to encapsulate memories of people and places.

Vas Florum: Resina Botanica evokes Rusak’s focus on the colours, patterns and shapes found in the natural world, whether in the sleek surface of a stone in a mountain river, the abundant varieties of floral species, or the entanglements of roots and branches that captivate him in his beloved Polish forests. The artist sublimates his impressions of these forms and textures into his works, translating their qualities into the porosity of sanded resin, or the coolness of patinated cast bronze.

Central to the presentation are new editions of the Resina Botanica tables whose irregular shapes were informed by natural boulders found in the riverbed of the Solinka River in the Bieszczady Mountains Natural Park in Southern Poland. Embraced in patinated cast bronze bases, their tabletops highlight unique floral compositions cast in dark green and rust-hued resin, alluding to whirlpools of water and the leaves, lichens and weeds flickering just beneath the surface of the lively mountain river.

New sculptural vessels from the Vas Florum series, which embed flowers within resin structures are being shown for the first time. In the latest editions, Rusak’s focus is on the astonishing variety of species found in certain flowering plant families, from orchids and carnations to roses, tulips, asters, daisies and hydrangeas. The dense, baroque-like compositions offer a glimpse into the history and science behind flower cultivation, allowing viewers to study the beauty and significance of the selected species.

Rusak’s artistic process can be seen as that of an alchemist, playing with the materiality of things and turning natural forms into sculptural, functional objects that comment on the world around us. Raised in a family of flower growers in Poland, the artist has long been fascinated by plants and floral matter as sources of inspiration and decoration. Preserved in various states of decomposition, these natural elements evoke themes of ephemerality and memory, while exploring the relationship between nature and human intervention. By reclaiming, manipulating and enhancing plants and flowers, Rusak extends their lifecycle and gives them renewed purpose.

Marcin Rusak

“I try to embrace a complex approach to art in order to re-evaluate objects and their significance while celebrating the organic outcome of natural materials and processes,” Marcin Rusak.

Marcin Rusak is a London-based artist and multidisciplinary designer interested in ideas of value, ephemerality and aesthetics. Rusak is renowned for his innovative use of organic materials, exploring the themes of decomposition, preservation and the passage of time in his creations. Specialising in process, research and material investigation, he creates objects, sculptures and installations that explore the overlooked details of our lives and show them in a different light.

Marcin Rusak was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1987. Before taking up studies at the Design Academy Eindhoven and at the Royal College of Art in London, where he developed his artistic language, he graduated from European Studies and attended courses at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. As the son and grandson of flower growers, he has long been fascinated by these natural sources of inspiration and decoration. He began engaging with them in his creative process by reusing waste to investigate new decorative elements within everyday objects. This led to a rich body of work ranging from research and storytelling to cultural criticism around consumption and future scenarios. He began his collaboration with Carpenters Workshop Gallery in 2022 with his participation in the exhibition Nextgen: The New Guard at the Paris gallery.

Rusak’s work is often based on overlooked source materials such as waste flowers or discarded metal. His vast material library – a Living Archive – is built around organic (degradable) and synthetic (durable) matter, including floral waste sourced from an extended network of dedicated collaborators and supporters. His techniques often involve preserving these natural elements in various states of decomposition, creating pieces that evoke the impermanence of time. The themes of ephemerality, memory and the relationship between nature and human intervention are central to his work.

Throughout his career, Rusak has received several awards in recognition of his contribution to art and design. These include the prestigious Perrier-Jouët Arts Salon prize (2015), the Wallpaper* Design Award (2016), The U-50 International Hokuriku Kogei Awards, Excellence Award (2017), The Architecture Digest Design Award (2016), the Mazda Design Award (2018) and the EDIDA Young Design Talent of the Year (2022).

Rusak’s work has been exhibited in many prestigious collections and exhibitions around the world. This includes What Is Luxury? At the Victoria and Albert Museum (2015), Flora Noir, Twenty First Gallery (2017), Nature of Things, Jerwood Visual Arts in London (2017), Nature of Things II, Horta Museum in Brussels (2018), Beazley Designs of the Year, The Design Museum (2019), Unnatural Practice in Ordet, Milan (2021), Flora Contemporaria, Twenty First Gallery (2021), BIO 27 Design Biennale in Ljubljana, Slovenia (2022), and Vas Florum, Carpenters Workshop Gallery (2023).