Conie Vallese – Designing with Tiles

Working with ceramic tiles introduced a different way of thinking for Conie Vallese. While much of her previous work explored ceramics as individual objects, this collection shifted the focus towards architecture and the way a surface unfolds across an entire space. Rather than considering a single tile in isolation, the project became an exploration of rhythm, repetition and continuity, where each piece contributes to something larger than itself.

Developed in collaboration with Blēo, the collection is rooted in the belief that repetition should never feel mechanical. Every tile carries small variations in glaze, colour and texture, allowing larger surfaces to remain alive rather than uniform. These subtle differences become increasingly visible as the surface expands, creating depth through material rather than ornament.

The colour palette emerged from landscapes rather than colour charts. Island environments became a recurring point of reference, where sea, sky and earth gradually dissolve into one another as daylight shifts throughout the day. Soft mineral blues, weathered yellows, warm earth tones and charcoal greys were chosen not for their individual presence, but for the way they quietly coexist. Rather than defining a room, the colours allow architecture, light and material to shape the atmosphere.

Throughout the development of the collection, preserving the tactile qualities of handmade ceramics remained essential. Although the tiles form a modular system, they deliberately retain traces of the making process. Slight irregularities, subtle tonal shifts and variations in the glaze are not imperfections but reminders of the material itself. Together they create surfaces that feel responsive, natural and deeply connected to the way they are produced.

For Vallese, tiles are never simply individual pieces assembled into a wall or floor. They are part of a continuous architectural surface, where colour, proportion and repetition work together to create rhythm without becoming dominant. The different formats introduce movement and direction while maintaining an overall sense of calm, allowing the collection to adapt equally well to intimate interiors and larger architectural spaces.

Rather than creating decorative patterns, the collection invites a quieter way of working with ceramics. It encourages surfaces that evolve throughout the day as changing light reveals new variations across the glaze and subtle differences between each handmade tile. The result is a material language that feels restrained, tactile and enduring—one where repetition becomes expressive, and where colour remains closely connected to the landscape that first inspired it.