Brooklyn-based designer Sarah Cihat is the creator behind the playful and popular line of tableware known as Rehabilitated Dishware. Recently we spotted Cihat's latest work, called Dirt, at the Future Perfect in New York. Dirt, which is the name for all of the pieces Cihat creates in porcelain, currently includes everything from containers and candles to lighting and sculpture. Several of the designs in this series are delicately decorated with chains and metalwork; the result of a collaboration with artist/friend Michael Miller. We asked Cihat 3 questions about the inspiration and impetus behind this latest line of work.

Over the years your Rehabilitated Dishware has become an indie design favorite, known for its bright, bold graphics. You seem to have taken a new direction with your recent porcelain work called Dirt. What caused the shift?
I love making my rehab dishes, because every piece is individual and a surprise when it comes out of the kiln. My customers also continue to respond and enjoy them. I need to keep my hands working in different ways and my mind working on something completely new though. With Dirt, I mostly create original shapes, make their molds, and slip cast them. The process is totally different than my dishware. Creating new shapes is so much fun and such a challenge. You have to really consider the end result and how you will accomplish it. How can a make a mold of this shape? Will the cast piece easily come out of the mold? Will the piece collapse or warp in the kiln during the firing process? How much will it shrink? All of these factors, along with inspiration and creativity run simultaneously through my mind when I'm working. It's challenging and invigorating.

How did your partnership with metalsmith Michael Miller come about?
Michael and I have been best friends since graduating from Parsons together in 2003. She went on to work for a metalsmith after school and developed her skills in both ferrous and non-ferrous metals. She can make a brass canopy for a light and also solder 24k gold charms for a necklace. As best girlfriends, the chatter never stops and the ideas are always coming. We brainstorm regularly about these crazy ideas we have of things we would like to make together. Since my main vein is ceramics and hers is metals, is was just a matter of time until we made our ideas a reality.

The designs in Dirt are elegant, but often with a little twist. What was the inspiration behind some of the details (a golden tooth, faceted patterning) found in these pieces?
I have a hard time with symmetry in my work. I just don't like it. I find balance and movement in asymmetry. The faceted surfaces of some of my work I find through working with moist clay to make a shape. Just through playing with it and pounding and hitting it, a shape begins to take form. From there, I manipulate, chisel and sand my way to a pattern or surface that pleases me. I like to think of them as little messed up diamonds or strange rocks or gems.

As for the wolf, she needed a little more personality as to not be taken too seriously. Plus I love metallics and relish the chance to paint something with gold.

+ sarahcihat.com