Rigler makes pieces that attempt to tread a line between ordinary and extraordinary, function and non-function, the domestic and the monumental. Rooted in traditional clay techniques (particularly industrial processes like slip-casting and press-moulding), he has developed a broad practice encompassing site-specific interventions, unique sculptures, tilework, furniture and lighting. His interest in the sensual qualities of ceramics inspires his glazed and gilded surfaces, with other materials adding to a sense of richness and depth.
Rigler has worked with outstanding historic interiors, such as the Victoria & Albert Museum and Chatsworth, as well as creating sculptural responses for more modest domestic spaces and bespoke editions for retail. He relishes the challenge posed by a new context or by the constraints of function; they prompt new discoveries, drive his work and fuel his passion for making. His love of clay began in the architectural terracotta industry where, as a plaster model-maker and mould-maker, Rigler created ceramic details to replace those missing from historic buildings. Architecture is a game of signs, where material, scale, form and decoration intersect to speak about the importance of a building and what happens within it; by looking more closely, Rigler is often dazzled by the strangeness of familiar architectural languages and styles of decoration.