Magdalena Ksiezak of Okay Kiosk
Creative People
12th December, 2013
Lisa and I are SO EXCITED about today's N.K.O.T.B post! How incredible is this work by young Melbourne designer and paper engineer Magdalena Ksiezak of Okay Kiosk !? SUCH TALENT! Thanks Lisa for introducing us to another amazing emerging Australian creative...! - Lucy
Exploding paper milkshake by Melbourne based designer and paper engineer Magdalena Ksiezak, aka Okay Kiosk. Photo - Eve Wilson for The Design Files.
Magdalena Ksiezak of Okay Kiosk fashions a paper prawn! Photo - Eve Wilson for The Design Files.
Exploding paper food series by Melbourne based designer and paper engineer Magdalena Ksiezak, aka Okay Kiosk. Photo - Eve Wilson for The Design Files.
Exploding paper food series gift cards by Magdalena Ksiezak, aka Okay Kiosk. Photo - Eve Wilson for The Design Files.
Magdalena Ksiezak, aka Okay Kiosk in her Collingwood studio, alongside one of her amazing exploding paper creations! Photo - Eve Wilson for The Design Files.
A little like David Attenborough observing wildlife for an award-winning nature documentary, I have been surveying Magdalena Ksiekzak’s work intently for quite some time. Working under her alias 'Okay Kiosk', Magdalena is a graphic designer, paper artist and sometimes photographer, or in layman’s terms : a triple threat.
Now, for me, the Okay Kiosk magic really happens when Magdalena combines all three of her creative pedigrees to produce suspended scenes of exploding food, constructed using only paper and string, and captured photographically. Magdalena visualises a concept, hand makes each component meticulously, and assembles each layer to build a three dimensional hanging set. ‘Adding the floating element to the work adds a touch of surrealism, and I love trying to create a sense of movement and energy to the static components,’ Magdalena explains. The result is almost hyperreal - it’s like DIY CGI!
Originally born in Poland, Magdalena migrated to Australia with her family when she was a child, and grew up in Canberra. She studied photography at ANU, but felt a little frustrated working in a singular creative medium. ‘I felt like something was still missing, and I didn't want to limit myself,’ she recalls. So in 2005, when Magdalena relocated to Melbourne, she enrolled in a diploma of graphic arts at RMIT.
In the years since, Magdalena had been steadily working in corporate graphic design, but last year, with the support of friends and family, she made the decision to quit her job and go freelance. ‘Despite working as a graphic designer, I didn't have any commercial work I was proud to showcase in my folio. I started looking into design internships. In a way I felt as though I was going back to square one, but I wanted to get some hands on experience in the kinds of studios I really admired.’
After completing two internships at The Hungry Workshop and Function/Form, and having also been awarded Magic Johnston Studio’s 'Junior Johnston’s Hall Pass Scholarship' (the prize is free studio space for a whole year - such a great idea!), Magdalena finally launched her own creative freelance business earlier this year. ‘Working in a supportive environment like Magic Johnston has been an amazing experience. Freelancing has taught me so much about running a business, I can now appreciate what it takes to be successful.’ Magdalena now juggles her graphic design contracts with side projects such as her floating paper food sculptural pieces, which she has recently developed into a series of gift cards.
So what’s next for Magdalena? ‘I want to expand on this series of floating food related imagery' she says. 'I’ve barely scraped the surface of iconic foods, and there are definitely a lot of themes still to cover!’ Whatever she sets her mind to, we're convinced Magdalena can create it!
Magdalena Ksiezak in her Collingwood studio. Photo - Eve Wilson for The Design Files.
Paper lamp chop by Magdalena Ksiezak in her Collingwood studio. Photo - Eve Wilson for The Design Files.
