Interview with Peter Ciesla, Textile Artist Part 1

Peter Ciesla is a self-taught textile artist born in Wroclaw, Poland in 1961. Growing up surrounded by theater, visual art and music, he developed a love for textiles and fashion. Peter started experimenting with textiles at age 11 designing and creating street fashion, as well as costume for theatre and dance performances. He emigrated to the United States in 1991 and immediately focused on developing a career as an artist/designer opening “Creative Apparel Design” in Chicago, Illinois. He spent the 1990’s focusing on custom couture work, learning the painstaking attention to detail that this work requires. In addition he developed an art-to-wear clothing and jewelry line during this time, as the Millennium approached. The present incarnation of his business, Bazyli Studio, was launched in 2002. Peter based it in Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin together with his life partner and artist, Skye. They combined their talents and efforts to create their unique, one-of-a-kind, sculptural beaded jewelry line. Their work has national recognition and has won numerous awards. Although Peter continued to design art-to-wear in the 2000’s, most of his energy went into hand crafting Bazyli jewelry. In 2012, he went back to his first passion and began designing and creating art clothing on a full time basis. In 2015, Peter and Skye opened Bazyli Studio Wearable Art Gallery in a building adjacent to their home and studios. 

Peter’s work has always been inspired by the natural world. He has most recently developed an art clothing line integrating his own toxin free, one-of-a-kind, plant-dyed organic textiles. He works with the natural fibers of linen, cotton, silk, hemp, wool, organic when possible. He experiments with local Door County plants, nuts, berries and flowers in his natural dyeing processes. He does botanical printing along with Shibori techniques. He uses his masterful skills to manipulate textiles in a variety of ways, including surface design, texturing, application, quilting and felting techniques. He also creates his own patterns for his signature coats, jackets and vests. In developing his own plant-dyed textiles he has realized his long time dream of creating clothing with a softer ecological footprint. His deep love, appreciation and respect for the breathtaking beauty of the Door County Peninsula is reflected in his work. He looks forward to many more years of discovery and experimentation in the field of natural dyeing and in creating objects of beauty.

https://www.bazylistudio.com