MICHAL KORYCKI
(b.1979, Poland, lives and works in Cape Town)
Michal Korycki is a Polish-born South African architect and sculptor. His venture into sculpture was supported by 20 years of a distinguished architectural career. Having co-founded Craft of Architecture and later Mobius, Korycki found himself needing to balance his professional service with a more personal outlook.
The artist states: “my criteria was simple; it had to be hands-on and honest, no computers, no drafting and designing, no attachment to outcome or expectations.”
Korycki’s interest in and familiarity with assemblage are evident throughout his work. Working with clay, he creates abstract and deconstructed ceramic sculptures rooted in architectural thinking. Material is often considered and expressed in the work, either through the heavily-grogged clay Korycki uses or through the form itself—showing off the material’s once-owned elasticity.
Korycki focuses on exploring clay’s expressive potential in his sculptures. Through a meticulous process of manipulation, bending, and setting, Korycki captures specific moments of flexibility and motion within each artwork. He utilises cut slabs and blocks instead of moulding vessels or using a wheel.
Clay, as a material, presents both malleability and sensitivity, shrinking and drying when exposed to air. Korycki embraces these inherent characteristics, emphasising the material’s self-correction and response to kiln firing. By incorporating multiple clay bodies and exploiting their differential shrinkage, he achieves a textured, aged aesthetic that adds a temporal quality to his sculptures.
Korycki sees the pursuit of assemblage as a common thread connecting architects and artists alike. For him, it encompasses the act of gathering and constructing a cohesive object, building, or space, necessitating a profound exploration of the relationships that govern both architectural and artistic processes.
Michal Korycki is a Polish-born South African architect and sculptor. His venture into sculpture was supported by 20 years of a distinguished architectural career. Having co-founded Craft of Architecture and later Mobius, Korycki found himself needing to balance his professional service with a more personal outlook.
The artist states: “my criteria was simple; it had to be hands-on and honest, no computers, no drafting and designing, no attachment to outcome or expectations.”
Korycki’s interest in and familiarity with assemblage are evident throughout his work. Working with clay, he creates abstract and deconstructed ceramic sculptures rooted in architectural thinking. Material is often considered and expressed in the work, either through the heavily-grogged clay Korycki uses or through the form itself—showing off the material’s once-owned elasticity.
Korycki focuses on exploring clay’s expressive potential in his sculptures. Through a meticulous process of manipulation, bending, and setting, Korycki captures specific moments of flexibility and motion within each artwork. He utilises cut slabs and blocks instead of moulding vessels or using a wheel.
Clay, as a material, presents both malleability and sensitivity, shrinking and drying when exposed to air. Korycki embraces these inherent characteristics, emphasising the material’s self-correction and response to kiln firing. By incorporating multiple clay bodies and exploiting their differential shrinkage, he achieves a textured, aged aesthetic that adds a temporal quality to his sculptures.
Korycki sees the pursuit of assemblage as a common thread connecting architects and artists alike. For him, it encompasses the act of gathering and constructing a cohesive object, building, or space, necessitating a profound exploration of the relationships that govern both architectural and artistic processes.
Education
2003 Master of Architecture, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban
2000 Bachelor of Architecture, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban
Selected Exhibitions & Artfairs
2025 Painting Sculpture (The Fourth, Cape Town, ZA)
2024 Cabinet Clay (99 Loop & Cape Town Art Fair, ZA)
2024 Southern Guild (Design Miami, US)
2024 Blurring the Lines (The Fourth, Cape Town, ZA)
2023 Love is a Place (99 Loop, Cape Town, ZA)
2023 Friends of the Couch House (Coach House 61, Amsterdam, NL)
2023 With Feeling (99 Loop, Cape Town, ZA)
2023 Got Junk Volume III (The Fourth, Cape Town, ZA)
2023 Turbine Art Fair (Anthony Shapiro, Johannesburg, ZA)
2022 Of Form (The Fourth, Cape Town, ZA)
2022 Got Junk Volume II (The Fourth, Cape Town, ZA)
2021 Death Row Dinner (ICTAF 2021, The Fourth, Cape Town, ZA)
2003 Master of Architecture, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban
2000 Bachelor of Architecture, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban
Selected Exhibitions & Artfairs
2025 Painting Sculpture (The Fourth, Cape Town, ZA)
2024 Cabinet Clay (99 Loop & Cape Town Art Fair, ZA)
2024 Southern Guild (Design Miami, US)
2024 Blurring the Lines (The Fourth, Cape Town, ZA)
2023 Love is a Place (99 Loop, Cape Town, ZA)
2023 Friends of the Couch House (Coach House 61, Amsterdam, NL)
2023 With Feeling (99 Loop, Cape Town, ZA)
2023 Got Junk Volume III (The Fourth, Cape Town, ZA)
2023 Turbine Art Fair (Anthony Shapiro, Johannesburg, ZA)
2022 Of Form (The Fourth, Cape Town, ZA)
2022 Got Junk Volume II (The Fourth, Cape Town, ZA)
2021 Death Row Dinner (ICTAF 2021, The Fourth, Cape Town, ZA)