These scratchable vases are part of a new series by Israeli designer Itay Ohaly. The black surface of the vases can be etched away, playfully revealing colourful layers beneath. The series is continuation of Ohaly’s exploration into material etchings and patterns.

Ohaly based the idea for this series on colour etching, a type of drawing he did as a child where colours on paper were covered with a darker layer that was scratched off to create images.

These MDF vases are painted with layers of paint separated by an oil layer, which enables the top layer to be easily scratched off.

Intended for ‘cheerful adults’, the vases as shown above have been decorated – or rather scratched – by Ohaly himself to show how the vases look when either partly or completely covered with etchings.

This project is an evolution of ideas explored in Ohaly’s Colored Memories Installation from 2014. Visitors were encouraged to scratch and engrave patterns into walls and household furnishing, revealing colours and playful organic patterns.