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Philosophy

 
 
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Elevate your indoor wilderness

 

MiMOKO is a brand of ceramic ware designed for plants to inspire you to live amongst more greenery. Plants have a miraculous way of lifting our spirits, fueling our inspiration and improving our wellbeing.

MiMOKO was born out of a need to be surrounded by more nature indoors and to make nurturing your plants an easy, enjoyable and elegant experience.

Our planters and vases will elevate your favourite flora to a new level. Carefully constructed, pared back designs will let the plants speak for themselves and stand timeless for years to come.

MiMOKO believes less is more in many aspects of life and design. Unless we’re talking about plants, then more is always more.

 
 
 
Monique Skelton on the potter’s wheel applying finishing touches on a planter.
 
 
 

Inspiration in Japanese design

 
 

Inspired by Japanese design philosophies, MiMOKO believes that true elegance is found in simplicity. This simplicity is found throughout Japanese culture: in their architecture, their interior design and spatial organisation, in their Zen gardens and their ceramics, where everything is meticulously thought out and constructed but appears to be utterly fortuitous.

MiMOKO aspires towards this seemingly effortless elegance. When an object is deliberately pared back to its essential elements, emphasis is drawn to what is important.

In line with Japanese ideologies, MiMOKO believes in the worth of natural materials, asymmetry and white space to create harmony. In our design process there is a constant play of tension and balance to create this harmony. It is a continual exploration between corners and curves, austere and organic surfaces, matte and glossy finishes to achieve a balance of dynamic design that just feels right.

 
 
 
Monique Skelton taking photographs of her pots in a Japanese style shoot.
 
 

The face behind MiMOKO

 

Out of a desire to create quality and unique planters that were hard to source elsewhere, Monique Skelton founded MiMOKO soon after her first pottery class in 2015.

Born and raised in New Zealand, Monique grew up with a creative streak. From early on in her art school years, she has always been interested in art that served a function. Taking it out of the white gallery walls and into everyday life means that it can be enjoyed by a far wider audience.

Now a proud Canadian citizen, Monique lives and works with her partner and son in Vancouver, BC.

Monique Skelton’s profile photo sitting next to a luscious maidenhair fern.
 

Moving into the exciting world of slip casting

MiMOKO is thrilled to launch its first ever slip cast collection, Nature Finds a Way.

Slip casting is an exciting way to make ceramics as it allows you to produce complex shapes that wouldn't be possible using the wheel. It is an entirely different way to how we normally produce ceramics.

We have designed our own models (some with clay and some with 3D printing technology), overcome the complexities of mold making (easier said than done as you have to create both master and production molds), and leapt into the art of slip casting.

This new method consists of pouring a liquid clay (slip) into our plaster molds. As plaster is inherently absorbent, the clay forms a shell inside the mold’s walls. Once a desired thickness of clay shell has been reached, the excess slip can be poured out. After 30-60 minutes, once the cast has sufficiently hardened, it can be taken out of the mold and the seam cleaned up with a fine point blade and a delicate sponge.

Although learning and mastering this new method of production was far more complex than we had anticipated, we couldn’t be happier with the results and the knowledge gained for future work.

 
 

Film by Kahani Pictures
2024


 

Film by Cara Films
2019

 

Photo credits

Victor Yuen @velourproductions