The origins of artist Robert Strati’s work are every bit as beautiful as the works themselves. The way he tells it, one day, a figural plate belonging to his late mother-in-law fell and broke into many pieces. Strati collected the broken shards and put them aside, not sure what to do with them, but loathe to discard them. A little while later, he took out the pieces and partially reassembled the plate on drawing paper. He then explored what would be created if the remaining shards were left to their own devices. The resulting art started him down a lovely, imaginative road. He takes vintage and antique figural plates, shatters them, then imagines the new stories that could be created using the porcelain as a jumping-off point.

I have always found myself drawn to figural porcelain. I actually own a few fairly valuable monochrome figural antique tiles, but I don’t display them because they feel a bit too twee alongside my more Art Deco and modern. But Strati’s work explores them in ways that I could definitely display with pride. Don’t worry, I’m not taking a hammer to my lovely tiles, but I would truly love to own a piece of this antique-meets-modern work.

You can follow the fascinating Robert Strati on his Porcelain Projects website and on Instagram. You can also purchase his work from the Fremin Gallery.