The Collector's Eye: Olivia Cognet
Poetic Forms, Sculptural Soul.
There are certain artists whose work doesn’t just speak — it resonates. Olivia Cognet is one of them. The moment I discovered her pieces, I felt this magnetic pull — her forms live somewhere between architecture and emotion, commanding space while inviting intimacy. What I love most is how she honors the handmade. There’s a raw, tactile honesty to her work that feels incredibly modern and deeply timeless all at once. You see the hand, you feel the soul. Every curve, every glaze, every sculpted edge is a study in contrast.
I wanted to share Olivia’s work with you because her work is more than art — it’s an experience. It transforms space, shifts energy, and reminds us that the most powerful design always comes from a place of pure, personal vision.
Since landing in Los Angeles in 2016, French ceramicist and visionary designer Olivia Cognet has been sculpting her own singular universe — one rooted in the sensuality of clay and the poetic potential of form. Her work lives at the intersection of art and utility, blurring the lines between sculpture and furniture, object and architecture.
In her sun-washed California studio, Olivia shapes monumental bas-reliefs, towering totems, and wildly sculptural furnishings — each piece an ode to contrast and craft. Think: graphic silhouettes softened by organic gestures, brutalist minimalism touched by a hand-wrought soul. Her ceramics don’t just exist in space — they command it.
Born in Nice and deeply inspired by the Côte d’Azur’s artistic legacy — Picasso, Capron, Vallauris — Olivia infuses the heritage of French decorative arts with a bold, modern spirit. She draws from the elemental beauty of her surroundings: the golden glare of a late afternoon, the hard angles of mid-century facades, the raw textures of desert and sea.
Each piece is a study in duality — the rigor of geometry softened by sensual curves, the rugged honesty of raw clay elevated by luminous crackle glazes. There’s a quiet drama to her work, a balance of force, structure, and softness. At times, her creations seem to levitate, light as air, yet very much grounded.
To live with Olivia Cognet’s work is to invite in the tension between art and life. It is to celebrate purity, beauty, and a deep reverence for the handmade.
— Michelle Waugh
Images Taken From Design Milk Magazine, The Future Perfect, and Olivia Cognet Studio and Instagram