Master’s Diploma Project, 2025
Melted is my graduation project, created as a personal response to funerals that often felt emotionally distant and disconnected. These ceremonies, while traditional, left little space for presence, shared grief, or a meaningful goodbye.
The project asks whether a farewell can feel more human, more connected, and more conscious.
At its heart is an object I designed a ritual aluminum bowl that only functions through cooperation. It requires at least three people to hold and balance it together. Alone, it doesn't work. This physical need for collaboration mirrors the emotional support we seek during loss.
Together, participants place a candle into the bowl and melt the wax over fire. Once liquid, they pour it into water, where it cools and forms a one-of-a-kind organic shape, a fragile imprint of a shared moment.
I then transform these wax forms into solid glass sculptures using the lost wax casting technique. Each piece is unique. There is no single author. The final shape emerges from collective gesture, material behavior, and the unpredictability of the process.
Melted offers an alternative way of mourning, one that values presence, touch, and the power of doing something together. It draws inspiration from ancient Slavic rituals, grief psychology, and participatory design, inviting a slower, more human way of letting go.
Photo credits: Filip Trubač
Big thanks to Alucast and Jakub Šmatelka for sponsoring the production of the aluminium components of this project.
The project asks whether a farewell can feel more human, more connected, and more conscious.
At its heart is an object I designed a ritual aluminum bowl that only functions through cooperation. It requires at least three people to hold and balance it together. Alone, it doesn't work. This physical need for collaboration mirrors the emotional support we seek during loss.
Together, participants place a candle into the bowl and melt the wax over fire. Once liquid, they pour it into water, where it cools and forms a one-of-a-kind organic shape, a fragile imprint of a shared moment.
I then transform these wax forms into solid glass sculptures using the lost wax casting technique. Each piece is unique. There is no single author. The final shape emerges from collective gesture, material behavior, and the unpredictability of the process.
Melted offers an alternative way of mourning, one that values presence, touch, and the power of doing something together. It draws inspiration from ancient Slavic rituals, grief psychology, and participatory design, inviting a slower, more human way of letting go.
Photo credits: Filip Trubač
Big thanks to Alucast and Jakub Šmatelka for sponsoring the production of the aluminium components of this project.