Olivia Cognet grew up in Nice on the French Riviera, trained at the Villa Arson and inspired by the masters of the Vallauris School, from Picasso to Roger Capron, making ceramics a central element of architecture. She first brings her ideas to life on a flat surface, by drawing, before taking hold of the material. She is following in the tradition of the decorative arts. Her work is both functional and powerfully poetic.