Synaps Lamps

Born in Warsaw in 1988, Jan Garncarek holds a master's degree in Design from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He also studied at the Politecnico di Milano, where he attended the classes of Michele De Lucchi and Andrea Branzi. After working at Towarzystwo Projektowe, a Warsaw industrial design studio, he founded his own studio in 2017. His work has been shown at Paris Design Week and Art Basel, and is represented by selected galleries in Europe and the United States.

His practice sits between design and sculpture. Monumental, spherical forms are set against finer, more delicate details, and every piece is made by hand in short series, using precious materials and avoiding industrial production. Two concerns run through the work: preserving the memory of pre-war Warsaw, whose culture once rivalled that of Europe's great capitals, and looking for ideas in fields beyond design, from literature and anthropology to sociology and psychology. His grandfather, a maker of traditional small goods, remains a lasting influence.

Between inheritance and invention, Garncarek makes objects meant to carry the weight and seriousness of the fine arts into everyday life.