The name MARSA is fictional yet deeply personal. It originates from a childhood nickname once given to Aleksandar’s father. As a boy wearing a knitted ski mask, he reminded his friends of “a man from Mars.” In that moment, an everyday object became a gateway to another dimension, transforming a snowy playdate into a planetary conquest. This spirit of playful imagination and escapism found in ordinary moments is what inspires the studio’s vision.

“Phenomena” is Aleksandar’s debut collection of sculptural objects for Studio MARSA. Drawing inspiration from the celestial, the collection approaches the outer space as a realm of play, self-expression, and transformation, treating it as a projection of the world within. Together, the pieces form a universe of their own, where the bursts of energy become metaphors of personal journeys, emotions, and beliefs.

The collection’s graphic language is amplified through a distinctly maximalist approach to materiality, bringing together artisanal fabrication techniques such as scagliola—the 17th-century Baroque art of pigmented plaster moulding—with hand-stitched and hand-painted cowhide leatherwork, bent steel, and high-gloss lacquered surfaces. The resulting interplay of colour, texture, and craft lends the collection its exuberant and expressive character.