Judging mosaics: an interview with Enikő Leányvári and Arianna Gallo 

Enikő Leányvári and Arianna Gallo judged the Mosaic category for the 2026 Koestler Awards this year. Enikő and her studio, Tiger’s Eye Mosaic, supported the introduction of the Mosaic category into the Awards and continue to support its delivery. She is judging the category for the second year in a row. Arianna is the creative director of Koko Mosaico in Ravenna, Italy, and joined this year at Enikő’s invitation. 

While here, Enikő and Arianna shared advice for beginners thinking of entering the Koestler Awards or trying mosaics for the first time. 

Our conversation was edited for brevity and clarity. 

Thank you both for being there. I’d like to start with what drew you to mosaics initially. What was interesting about the artform? 

Enikő: For me it was a coincidence. I fell in love with mosaic in Ravenna, visiting my friend’s mosaic studio there with my husband. I was pregnant with my third child at that moment. Ari ran a workshop there, and I saw old, young, very different people enjoying making mosaics. I realised I could learn this too, that you don’t necessarily have to be born a mosaic artist. That was the turning point in my life. 

Arianna: I think in mosaic you can become addicted, and a passion grows in you… 

Enikő: …if it’s really your medium. If you don’t enjoy making it, you’ll stop. It’s a fairly unknown art form, so if you’re seeking personal fame or success, it’s very difficult to shape without real passion and humility. 

You have to love the art form.  

Eniko: Exactly. And I think we also need to respect it.  

Arianna: Before you make a mosaic you need to understand materials, you need to find the right ones, you need to draw. Mosaic isn’t so intuitive, it’s not always easy to start. And it’s a lot about repetition, doing the same gesture continuously, so you need to love it.  

You mention repetition. A lot of the artworks we receive have that quality, because people may be working on them while they’re in a secure setting, sometimes over a long period of time. And maybe that’s where this artform shines. 

Arianna: This repetition is also a kind of meditation. While you do these gestures and repeat them, you have time to lose yourself, to focus on what you’re doing. You forget everything else, and time stops. 

Enikő: And it’s possible to make beautiful mosaics even if you don’t have the traditional skills. That’s why I think it’s important to have this category. We found objects, dry seeds, small paper balls, plastic caps; whatever you can find around you, you can make a mosaic. Planning is important: if you want to make a mosaic with plastic caps, you have to start collecting them, so it takes longer.  

When we judge, we look at the overall quality of the mosaic, and the emotional response. But if we also see that somebody has genuinely spent a lot of time on it, that needs to be rewarded. 

Arianna: This process isn’t about technique, or traditional materials, for us. It’s interesting to see what people found, and what they thought a mosaic could be. Mosaic is a repetition of small things we call tesserae, little tiles. So, it’s interesting to see what they found as their tessera. 

There’s a mosaic made from matchsticks, I noticed. We have a matchstick model category, too. 

Enikő: That’s very interesting, because matchsticks have a square shape, and it works almost like a pixel mosaic. That artist was using a single matchstick like a pixel unit. Making a complicated pixel mosaic that way is actually very difficult, because you have to be precise and work line by line, otherwise you lose the pattern. It’s a little bit like Roman micromosaic, in that sense. 

Do you have any advice for someone who’s new to mosaics, and maybe doesn’t have the resources or tools required to make traditional mosaics? 

Arianna: They can work with the material they’ve found. I saw a lot of ceramic in these pieces, people working first with ceramic, then breaking the pieces to make the little tiles. Pieces made of plasticine.  

People can start by thinking about material first, collecting it from nature, pebbles, shells, or by breaking ceramic tiles. Then they put the pieces together according to the drawing they want, because mosaic can be a translation of a painting but it can also be texture. It can be flat, or it can be uneven. 

Enikő: Sometimes you have an idea and then look for the material. Sometimes you have the material, and the idea comes.  

For me, it’s always important to have a plan, some sketches, thoughts about colour, because if you work with glue or cement, the material dries and it becomes very difficult to make corrections. 

But we shouldn’t worry too much about technique. For me the most beautiful moment is when I’m just playing around with something that isn’t a commission, just for myself or as a gift for a friend. It’s possible to learn the technique later, from a book or research online. But the first step is just to look at some mosaics and figure out why a piece looks good to you. For me, harmony is very important in my own work, so I look for harmonious pieces, but that’s just me, everyone’s different. 

And do you work better with mosaics when around other people, working in collaboration, or by yourself? 

Enikő: I was always a team player, that’s actually why I wanted to study theatre. But now I specialise in Roman micromosaic, which is a very lonely art form. I work alone because I need to focus. I still long for other people to work with, and that’s why I get involved in community projects. 

Arianna: My life is always inside my studio, and I have some assistants overseeing production. We’re open to tourists, and I teach too, so my day is always with a crowd. I can’t really express myself in that context, so sometimes I go and work at night, or on Sundays when we’re closed. That’s when I find the moment to do something just for me. 

Mosaic is my love, a big passion. I fell in love with it as a child, born in Ravenna. But it’s my work too, and sometimes it’s a commission. I think we’re lucky; it’s not only an occupation, but also a passion and a hobby. 

Finally, what’s one thing you would want a beginner to know? 

Enikő: For me, time doesn’t matter. We just need to slow down if we make mosaic. The final result always matters more to me than the time I invest in it. And if I’m not happy with something, I can just do it again. 

Arianna: I found it really interesting, in this work of judging, that some people weren’t trained in mosaic. It’s interesting to see how they chose to explore an art form that, like any other, has rules and a history of technique behind it. For someone who doesn’t have access to books or the right materials, mosaic can be a good art form for people who like to slow down, or need to focus on something for a while. And for people who like to collect small things. As a child, I used to spend a lot of time on the seashore, collecting shells. I think that was the beginning of my own attitude to mosaic. 

Enikő: We shouldn’t forget the freedom of the art form, or art in general: that you can do whatever you want. Sometimes too many rules can kill a little creativity. If somebody doesn’t know the rules, the advantage is that they’re not afraid to break them. 

Sometimes I face that myself, that’s my personal problem. I follow the traditional rules and techniques quite strictly, and sometimes I realise I’m losing a bit of my own creativity.  

It works in all directions: knowing the rules and then breaking them, or not knowing the rules and breaking them without realising, and then, once you fall in love with the art form, learning the rules properly. 

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