I am an artist based in Los Angeles, originally from Ukraine. I work mainly with two materials — clay and paint. The expression each one offers is different, almost polar. Where my ceramic work is quiet and minimal, my paintings are expressive and full of color. But I've come to think of them as two different ways of connecting to the same feeling of unity with the world.

I began in ceramics, drawn to the tactile feel of it and the alchemy of working with earth. My ceramic work stays close to nature: unglazed surfaces, neutral tones, organic forms reminiscent of being shaped by water and wind. There is something quiet and grounding about working in clay — it asks you to slow down and listen, as it always has a mind of its own.

Painting pulls me somewhere else entirely. Where ceramics brought me into the present moment, paint takes me into memory. My paintings are about nostalgia and the particular feeling memories carry — where sadness is illuminated, joy feels deeper, and an ordinary evening can hold an entire story. Color is the main language. I am interested in what color can do that words struggle to: recreate an atmosphere, hold a mood, return you briefly to something you almost forgot you felt.

Both materials call on the same idea — my belief that art has the power to make a person go deeper and lift them up at the same time.