In 2011, as part of a project at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Talia Mukmel had her first challenge when she was inspired by old civilizations to create only from what she had around her close physical surroundings. The result was a new series of bowls, made by sand, flour and threads giving it an authentic ancient look.

In this 2016 series, she blurs the boundaries between the past and the present by adding a modern aspect to the creation process. Instead of using threads to create the unique pattern, she designed a metal grid using photo etching technology.

In both projects the designer has altered different mixtures of sand and flour, two raw and very common materials, used by the majority of the population around the world all throughout history and to this day. In most ancient cultures, people had learned their physical surroundings finding essential uses for their needs through the most natural and basic elements they could find around them.

The use of these two elements is crucial for this research, as flour is mostly made up of starch, which is the main element that allows the grains of sand to stick together. The mixture of these elements swells up in the “baking process” to a unique pattern so that no two bowls are exactly the same.

The project will be on view during Milan Design Week 2016 at Ventura Lambrate.