Koko Camden – commissioned sculptural identity
A formative artefact in the evolution of the atelier
Koko Camden was one of the earliest commissions through which the principles of today’s Kostylo Atelier were clearly defined: material integrity, manual craftsmanship and the conviction that certain objects must be shaped by the hand rather than the machine.
Crafted from solid brass and standing 35 cm tall, the sculpture is composed of concentric rings, each carrying a distinct patina: deep black, warm brown, matte brass and polished brass. This transition is not decorative. It is structural – a gradual movement from density to luminosity, from material presence to reflection.
Every ring was hand-chased and refined individually, preserving the tactile presence of the maker within the finished object. During the development of the commission, laser-cutting was proposed as a faster solution. It was consciously rejected. The object required the discipline of the hand, not the efficiency of the machine.
Today, the work remains an important point within the atelier’s heritage. It documents an early commitment to authorship, material integrity and the belief that craftsmanship is not a method of production, but a way of thinking.
The result is not a product. It is an artefact in which material, proportion and craftsmanship form a single, coherent language.
