About Mariya K. Ceramics

The compulsion to communicate in three dimensions is the symptom of a life-long handicap.  I was never able to fully picture finished objects in my mind. My hands have always felt like an extension of my visual-sensory organ.  Ceramics became the language that allowed me to communicate ideas I couldn’t fully form internally. 

Once I learned that language, the question became: what is the message?

Since high school, my work has returned again and again to themes of transmutation and fluidity—vessels that become creatures, and creatures that become vessels.  At times, a piece needs only external decoration to achieve purpose, but typically the piece becomes the aesthetic. Allowing functional pottery to carry forms inspired by wildlife, fungi, and flora is a way of honoring the living world while placing it back into our daily routines. 

Like many people, I’m susceptible to the distractions of the modern world.  Making beautiful objects that invite use and touch while gently reminding us to be present with the world past our screens is my earnest mission.

~Mariya K