Elysia Athanatos

Ceramicist

©Ileana Athanatos

©Gabriele Semenzato

©Ileana Athanatos

Working with the elements

Elysia studied ceramics in China
She has exhibited extensively in Cyprus and Italy
Her unique vessels communicate her feelings

Elysia Athanatos studied Art and Sculpture in the United Kingdom and Italy, and then travelled all the way to China to explore and master porcelain, a material that combines the qualities of clay and glass. After China, she did a specialised course in Faenza ceramics and an artist residency in Denmark, where she explored wood firing. Elysia's recent work focuses on the relationship between the inside and the outside, ‘the void’, an empty space that gets filled with light while applying gold in the inside, producing a complete piece of art. For Elysia, clay, vessel and ceramics are terms that carry the weight of the past and its memory. She respects their history but does not feel confined by it. Her life and work are all about transmitting various sensations.

Interview

©Elysia Athanatos

©Ileana Athanatos

Did you study the art of ceramics?: I started my BA in Applied Arts at Middlesex University and then I completed my studies as a sculptor at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Florence. Yet my first contact with ceramics was in Jingdezhen (the Chinese city of porcelain) where I worked at Sanbao International Artist Residency.
Why did ceramics win your heart?: I went to China to understand a material composed of glass and clay. I was dazzled with the alchemy and the way in which the elements react and interact with each other, bringing out different results. Ceramics for me is nothing less than working with the elements.
How about pottery?: China was where I sat on a potter’s wheel for the first time. I had no instructions, no lessons. It was just a decision to sit, chuck a piece of clay and spin the wheel! Ten years later and I am still on a wheel with larger chunks of clay, challenging gravity, water, fire, air and earth.
Are you inspired by ancient ceramics?: People see an archaic archetype in my clay works, maybe because I work with vessel forms. I must say that it is not conscious, though there must be a deeper root. I work with ancient techniques but I break their rules and limitations.

Elysia Athanatos is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2002