This Ceramic Urn Collection designed for Memoria, offers a contemporary rearticulation of funerary objects whose formal language has remained largely stable over time. Referencing archetypal typologies while deliberately departing from their conventional restraint, the works are shaped through sustained attention to form, surface, and chromatic intensity. Clean, assertive lines establish a balance between solemnity and accessibility, positioning the urns as both ceremonial objects and presences within everyday space.

Materially, the vessels are conceived with prehensile proportions that invite handling and ease of movement, emphasizing their role as objects in use rather than artifacts held at a distance. The deep blue surface recalls the vastness of sky and water, introducing a sense of vitality, continuity, and openness into a funerary material culture traditionally defined by muted tones and austere symbolism. The collection offers three distinct formats: a standard urn designed for columbarium placement; a smaller, hand-held reliquary; and a larger vessel in which the urn assumes greater material and symbolic presence, whether within ceremonial settings or in the context of everyday domestic life.

Part of the On Funerary Ashes and Design Project

—

Manufactured in Montreal by A+J Metissage for Memoria.
2015—2017

Manufactured in Italy by Ceramiche Parigi for Memoria.
2023—

Ceramic Tall Urns: 35 cm h × 20 cm dia.
Ceramic Columbarium Urns: 27 cm h × 14 cm dia.
Ceramic Reliquaries: 8.8 cm tall × 6.4 cm dia.

Images: Justin Bisson-Beck