Alex Proba embraces a muted palette and mid-century modern elegance in her new tile collection with Concrete Collaborative inspired by Italian cuisine.

While most people associate Alex Proba with her signature art style, which is characterized by vibrant colors and playful shapes, her friends and loved ones are reminded of her when they see something entirely different: food figurines. ?Since childhood, I?ve collected fake food. When I travel, instead of a souvenir like a keychain of the Eiffel Tower, I would bring a fake baguette,? the artist shares. ?Now all my friends give me things like that and it?s become crazy because these are so much more available.? Proba enjoys collecting food figurines so much, she even commissioned a ceramist to create a giant mortadella toast ? an homage to her love of cold cuts cultivated from years of traveling to Italy for design week and having a partner who grew up in the country. While most of us enjoy a classic cured meat and cheese sandwich, our love for it stops there. But for Proba, it inspired her latest tile collection, Aurora, in partnership with Concrete Collaborative. It?s characterized by rich burgundies and pinks with a mid-century modern kind of chicness, a detour from her signature style but not a complete departure. With this collection, she hints at a new era of creativity ? just don?t call it colorless. ?There?s not many opportunities for me to explore less color, just because people expect me to always do color....