At the heart of my work is a deep fascination with what most people dismiss as trash. It's a material that is simultaneously cheap and invaluable—a resource, full of untapped potential. For me, "trash" is a profound metaphor for our current culture: oversaturated, wasteful, and detached from what truly matters. But it’s also a symbol of possibility, where decay and excess give rise to something new, something real. The process of reclaiming what’s discarded—be it physical objects, ideas, or systems—is a fundamental part of my creative journey.
Through my studio, DERZOST, I strive to create objects that speak to the urgent need for change, but also to a world of endless possibilities. I believe in the power of functional art to evoke deep emotions while simultaneously challenging societal norms. Our culture, our daily life, is saturated with inefficiency—whether it’s the redundant choices in a supermarket, the commodification of housing, or the endless cycles of consumerism and competition that leave us disconnected from our essence. This is not just waste; it’s stupidity, the kind that makes life unnecessarily complicated. I’m not here to critique in the traditional sense but to offer a new perspective, a path forward.
At the core of this work is a commitment to total appropriation—the idea that culture, in all its forms, is ever-evolving and fluid. It's about breaking down barriers and engaging with the world in a way that is both receptive and free. This openness is crucial for my practice. I am not interested in conforming to established structures or in confronting them for the sake of conflict. Instead, I embrace the freedom that art allows—where the message is mine to shape, and the interpretation is open to all. It’s a space where I can be fully myself, without compromise, and explore the limitless potential for creation, for growth, and for transformation.
The message of my work is clear: stay real, think deeply, explore. Reject the superficial; dive into the content, the context, the possibility of becoming. Embrace freedom—not just in art but in life. Question everything. Why do we waste time and energy on inefficient systems, on outdated models of success, on competing for a meaningless victory? Why do we allow unnecessary complexities to govern our lives? There’s a better way. A freer way.
I believe in accessibility, freedom, and joy. Not as abstract concepts, but as principles that should govern how we live, how we create, and how we engage with one another. My work is a response to the world as it is and a vision of the world as it could be—a world that values love, health, and meaning over profit, division, and control. My mission is not to fight, but to create—to craft new possibilities, new solutions, new ways of being. It’s not through struggle that true change occurs; it’s through creation, through releasing the old to make way for the new. And that's the world I’m working towards. One where freedom, openness, and sense reign, not chaos and fear.
In this space, through art, I am creating my own freedom, my own community, my own future. And I invite you to join me in this journey—a journey that looks beyond the surface, sees the potential in what others discard, and turns it into something real, something meaningful. This is DERZOST—a studio for now, a studio for the future.