Through Fire and Reflection: MILA ZILA’s Mirrored Worlds

Central European glass traditions represent one of humanity’s most enduring creative dialogues between maker and material. When glass arrived in Bohemia during the 13th century, it encountered a landscape that would nurture its evolution for seven centuries. The region’s abundant forests provided fuel, its silica-rich sands offered raw material, and its cultural positioning between Germanic and Slavic influences created fertile ground for artistic innovation.

This historical foundation informs MILA ZILA’s contemporary practice in profound ways. Growing up in southern Slovakia, where glassmaking traditions run deep, Ľudmila Žilková inherited not techniques but a philosophical approach to material engagement. Her new mirror wall objects—debuting at Persona during 3daysofdesign—emerge from this lineage while charting unexplored territory.

The Revelation of Spinning

Žilková’s breakthrough moment arrived through pure experimentation. “There was that first moment when I decided to spin the glass. The result was completely unexpected and magical. I knew immediately this is something I have to return to.” This discovery represents a fundamental shift in her practice—where previous work explored the foundational language of glass layering, these mirrors introduce centrifugal force as creative collaborator.

The technical implications are significant. Traditional glassblowing requires methodical layering, each addition of molten glass cooling before the next application. By introducing rotation, MILA ZILA allows natural forces to redistribute material thickness, creating what she describes as “a unique organic shape every time.” The process becomes a negotiation between intention and physics, control and surrender.

The Language of Layers

“I became interested in how these layers leave traces or ‘personas’ that add character to even the simplest form,” Žilková explains. This observation reveals deeper currents within her work—each piece becomes an archaeological record of its own creation, with layers preserving moments of interaction between artist, material, and process.

The connection to Persona‘s curatorial framework becomes evident here. The exhibition explores how design objects can embody human personality and reveal emotional complexity. MILA ZILA’s mirrors literalize this concept through their manufacturing process—as she notes, “individual atoms locking into place to create the most natural shape that reflects the fluid identity of the glass.”

Her approach to traditional silvering techniques follows similar principles. Rather than simply applying established methods, she reinterprets them to achieve results that honor historical knowledge while expressing contemporary sensibilities. This represents a sophisticated understanding of cultural transmission—tradition as living practice rather than museum preservation.

Philosophy of Productive Uncertainty

MILA ZILA’s work arrives at a moment when questions of authenticity and mass production dominate design discourse. Her response is both philosophical and practical: “I don’t think the goal for the future of making is to create identical copies of a certain form but rather to produce unique objects and products by respecting the properties of materials and revealing their true character.”

This perspective challenges contemporary manufacturing paradigms while proposing alternative relationships between maker, material, and outcome. Each mirror becomes an argument for material-led design—objects that emerge from collaboration rather than domination.

When asked where her mirrors would lead if they were portals, Žilková’s response cuts to the essence of her practice: “Undoubtedly, it speaks directly to our inner world.” The mirrors function as instruments of introspection, surfaces that reveal complexity rather than simple reflection.

Cultural Synthesis

Within Persona‘s exploration of identity through design, MILA ZILA’s mirrors occupy unique territory. They represent neither pure functionality nor decorative art, but something more complex—objects that actively participate in the construction of self-awareness. Standing before these pieces, viewers encounter reflections filtered through centuries of Czech glassmaking knowledge, shaped by contemporary philosophical inquiry, and transformed by forces beyond human control.

The mirrors demonstrate how traditional craft practices can evolve without losing essential character. They honor Bohemian glass traditions while addressing contemporary questions about identity, authenticity, and the role of objects in human experience. In MILA ZILA’s hands, glass becomes a medium for exploring what she describes as our “fluid identity”—the recognition that selfhood, like molten glass, remains perpetually in process.

MILA ZILA’s mirror wall objects will be featured in Persona at 3daysofdesign. The exhibition explores identity through the lens of collectible design, inviting viewers to see furniture and objects as character studies that mirror the complexity of human personality.