2026
Ceramic, salt crystals

German designer Lukas Wegwerth’s ongoing Crystallization series explores growth and transformation, inviting nature to become an active participant in the design process. Rather than imposing a fixed outcome, Wegwerth works in dialogue with materials, allowing natural processes to shape each piece.

For these works, shattered ceramic vessels are treated with a saline solution that encourages crystalline formations to grow across their unglazed surfaces, reshaping and reuniting fragments. Reminiscent of the Japanese practice of kintsugi, in which broken ceramics are repaired with gold, Wegwerth challenges the idea that damaged objects have lost their value. Instead, the crystals celebrate change, revealing beauty in impermanence while creating new narratives for objects marked by time.

Through this collaboration between human intervention and natural growth, these works reflect on memory, time, and renewal. For Wegwerth, the process also serves as a metaphor for our relationship with the natural world: one based not on control, but on observation, respect, and cooperation. By learning from nature’s processes, he suggests new ways of navigating the complexities of the present moment and imagining more harmonious futures.

Lukas Wegwerth

Presented courtesy of Gallery FUMI