Art that makes you smile
Feature
I believe that when you introduce playful objects into an environment, it expands the boundaries of the mind. It gives you non-verbal permission to think freely - not just to push against conventional frames, but to forget they even exist.
Maria Ivanova · 2026-07-17
There is a preconception that pleasure derived from an art piece, or the smile it evokes, somehow lowers its value and strips it of the grand title of “Art.” However, this is simply not true.
Art can speak loudly without words, making it an indisputable instrument for materializing self-reflection or addressing social and political concerns. Yet, if we look at the etymology of the word, “art” is not historically related to “seriousness” or anything of the sort; it takes its roots in hand-related craft, brilliantly mastered and executed. This origin automatically deprives art of any mandatory obligations and legitimizes its right to just be.
As was mentioned, art serves as a reflection of social, political, gender, or other issues. It can be a medium for personal introspection or a vehicle to deliver complex ideas in diverse shapes and forms. But an artist still can create playful objects following an intrinsic desire to feel the material, to experiment with shapes and colors, to master techniques, and to bring a piece of joy to everyday life. And being playful is not synonymous with being superficial. All objects carry the background, beliefs, vision, intentions, and concerns of their creators - they are simply expressed through a different lens.
Taking everything too seriously is a dead end - and it certainly shouldn't cross your mind when you are choosing a new piece for your home. Ultimately, the baseline is your personal preference. If you only approve of strict beige and black forms, or conventional mediums and subjects, that is wonderful! My only concern is when people don't even allow themselves to consider a piece that might spark a moment of delight. We constantly hear: “It looks so great, it will go beautifully with my walls and my other paintings.” But next time, try asking yourself a different question: Does it make me smile? Colorful and playful objects possess a unique quality that others lack - they inject pure happiness into a room. We don’t think about this often enough, focusing instead on how trendy a piece is or how it makes our home look. But how does it make us feel?
Colorful and playful objects possess a unique quality that others lack - they inject pure happiness into a room.
Interior design is not just a setting, a static picture, a composition, or a color palette. It is a living environment that embraces and enswathes you. We are used to considering an interior as an external component of our existence, positioning ourselves merely as spectators. In reality, the moment we step into a space, we are absorbed by it, invisibly adopting its mood and yielding to the irresistible influence of its atmosphere. There is even a specific branch of science - neuroarchitecture - that studies how the environment affects our cognitive performance, as well as our psychological and physical well-being. Mostly, these effects are triggered by spatial characteristics, color psychology, and the tactile properties of materials. However, there is one element that often falls off this scientific list but still has a major impact on how we experience a space: details filled with irony and fun.
In reality, the moment we step into a space, we are absorbed by it, invisibly adopting its mood and yielding to the irresistible influence of its atmosphere.
I believe that when you introduce playful objects into an environment, it expands the boundaries of the mind. It gives you non-verbal permission to think freely - not just to push against conventional frames, but to forget they even exist.
Below, you will find a selection of artists whose objects are guaranteed to bring an unexpected smile to your face.
Lola Mayeras
French designer Lola Mayeras grew up in the South of France with a ceramist father, so her artistic heritage and exploration of colors and shapes began to form in early childhood. She worked as a fashion designer before launching her own design studio in 2020. During the lockdown, she rediscovered her father’s workshop in her hometown and followed an inner desire to create in a medium familiar to her since youth.
Her background in fashion preserved her love for draping, but now her target objects are furniture and sculptures. Her most frequent signature element is the button-down shirt - it stands still in the form of a vase, is modestly stacked in a sculpture, or effortlessly draped over the corner of a wooden table. The latter is my personal favorite among all her amazing pieces: a restrained, natural ceramic mass with a wrinkled, azure-blue shirt seemingly falling onto the floor.
Lola Mayeras also manages to create anthropomorphic vases with ears and earrings that look perfectly natural an all senses. The balance of form and scale is so fine that it makes you question why other vases lack these symmetrical details. It is bold yet in harmony.
Recently, she has expanded her practice to work with metal and textiles. If you are in search of unique bedding, you can order the “It’s a Mess” set, featuring a trompe-l'œil print of scattered clothes. The light-hearted essence of her objects, along with chosen color palette, is deeply inspired by her childhood in the South of France, where enjoying a sun-filled life was a daily routine.
The light-hearted essence of her objects, along with chosen color palette, is deeply inspired by her childhood in the South of France, where enjoying a sun-filled life was a daily routine.
Erwin Wurm
Erwin Wurm’s work is a prime example of playful irony masking serious social themes – messages that are difficult to read at first glance, but become an inseparable part of the experience once uncovered.
As a pioneer of conceptual humor who has won the hearts of art lovers worldwide, Wurm famously gifts bags, sausages, sweaters, and other everyday items with arms and legs. He is the creator of puffed cars, bloated houses, and anthropomorphic pickles, all reconsidered through simple shapes and actions. This simplicity should by no means diminish the artist's value; rather, it reflects a genuine mastery of a highly readable visual language, which then collides with absolute unpredictability.
Ultimately, the absurdity in Wurm’s art serves as a sharp response to the pressures of contemporary society, such as overconsumption, the overwhelming weight of public opinion, and our obsession with self-representation through the things we own. Underneath the cheerful packaging lies a profound commentary on the modern human condition. Yet, the presence of this hidden depth never compromises the pure, joyful look of his pieces – they remain effortlessly delightful objects that you want to return to again and again.
Yet, the presence of this hidden depth never compromises the pure, joyful look of his pieces – they remain effortlessly delightful objects that you want to return to again and again.
Funny Ollas
Swedish designer Fanny Ollas has a background in textile and fashion, that reflects in her elegantly ornamented vases. Each vessel looks like a fairy character, who live by your side rent-free and has all the rights to do so.
The gentle tones and integration of faux fur, lacing, strass and pearls shape the magical tinkling appearance to every piece, yet they carry a certain state of melancholy. Her work revolves around thoughts about vulnerability, body, demands, fears, relationships and what is hidden behind our facades.
Pablo Picasso
The legendary Spanish artist always called himself an experimenter, and there can't be a more accurate description for the vast broadness of his work. Although he didn’t focus on irony as a core theme, the vessels he produced in large quantities in the South of France at the Madoura Atelier are a perfect reflection of the playful component in the artist's oeuvre.
By the end of World War II, Picasso was already a living legend, an acclaimed genius, and a millionaire. But this success had a backfire effect - he grew tired of academicism and the solemn, rigid attitude toward art. In turning to clay, he seemed to permit himself to become a child again.
"I can draw like Raphael, but it took me a lifetime to learn to draw like a child," - Pablo Picasso
The comical faces he painted on pitchers were an act of pure play and an expression of the absolute happiness he felt while living on the sunny coast with his young muse, Françoise Gilot. After the horrors of war, the tragedy of Guernica, and deep personal crises, creating vibrant, humorous tableware became a form of art therapy for him.
The comical faces he painted on pitchers were an act of pure play and an expression of the absolute happiness he felt while living on the sunny coast with his young muse, Françoise Gilot. After the horrors of war, the tragedy of Guernica, and deep personal crises, creating vibrant, humorous tableware became a form of art therapy for him.
These pitchers were never meant to sit behind glass in dusty museums. Picasso originally intended for his ceramics to be affordable and used in everyday life - for pouring wine or holding fruit - so that people could smile at those amusing, hand-painted faces over breakfast.
Matthew Centeno
Improvisation and an open-minded approach sit at the heart of Matthew Centeno’s creative process. Through highly detailed craftsmanship, he transforms ordinary balloons into captivating shapes that instantly speak directly to the inner child in everyone. His ultimate goal is to break through the monotony of daily life, nudging the audience to rediscover their forgotten sense of curiosity.
While foil balloons are the ultimate indicators of celebrations and holidays, they are inherently temporary. Unlike flowers, which have already become a staple of casual home decor, balloons still belong firmly to the category of special occasions. Centeno's wall-mounted porcelain balloon with a smiling face serves as a permanent reminder that every single day is special.
Sébastien Gaudette
What can be more pleasent than the sticky notes with cheerful inscriptions, that make you feel warm every time you see them? Sebastien Gaudette creates the tromp-l’œil sculptures from aluminium, which will stay on your wall forever. It’s the kind of art that doesn’t have to suit your interior but rather contribute to your mood and emotional well-being. I need to admit that the small size of the work adds to the spark of discovering it around - it’s like a piece of magic which you unexpectedly run into and freeze for a moment to smile for a second and go back to the errands.
The central pillar of the Gaudets' work is not the inscriptions but the recreation of paper folding. However, even within this framework, we find the component of delightful familiarity combined with childish excitement. For example the paper planes of different colors, made from a lined notebook sheet. Finding it on the chest of drawers or coffetable among books and vases would be a wonderful time machine to the carefreeness of youth.
It seems like we are frightened to let the art entartain us.
Whether you are an art - collector, - lover, - enthusiast or just start your acquaintance with bounderless art world, start noticing the objects that not only challange you, question or provocate, but also can evoke warmful memories, create a new one or simply makes you smile almost unreasonably.
Sometimes your joy is an artist goal - surrender to its power.