D'Arija Sculpture

I love stoneware that's roughly grogged because it gives the best support to organic forms and complements them with its own relief structure. I love a softly pigmented and "worn-out" surface on the outside and a smooth and shiny inside. In 2013, we also built an anagama kiln because wood-firing is a process of complete transformation. It is a process of respecting the forces of nature, cycles, transformation, being aware of the importance of working together and tolerance, as well as personal work and awakening, zen philosophy, and way of life. I love how the wood-fired works show on their skin the landscapes, galaxies, and entire universes imprinted upon them through fire and ashes on the highest metaphysical level. It is a unifying - as for the works in the kiln, so for the one who humbly serves the whole process. The inevitable occurence of unifiaction is actually an intuitive connection and adaptation in each and every moment, to maintain the flow. Born in Rijeka (1972) on the beautiful Adriatic coast we currently call Croatia. Due to parents' work grew up and moved all around Yugoslavia, a country of open-minded people working for the benefit of everyone. Because of the war in 1991 and losing my family, possessions, youth, and common sense, I left for the Netherlands where I am trying to grasp what is actually happening with that country, those people, humanity... After seven years of searching for myself, the meaning of existence, and everything that was uprooted by the war, I found EARTH - clay - where all the rage, anger, confusion, and depression melted and burned away. The first contact with clay felt like a divine hug embracing me whole, like a kiss of ancestors, the single and only truth of my soul. And it still is! Currently living and working in Janja Gora, Croatia, a small village close to the national park Plitvice Lakes, where I have been running the International Ceramics Centre Atelje Janja Gora. While attending an arts and culture high school, Esher was a major inspiration and challenge, especially interpreting Esher through other mediums. When clay accidentally entered my life, Gaudi became the challenge and inspiration. Through his creations and studying natural cosmic law, there occurs a final synthesis of the ancestral impact and the ancient art of the Yapode civilization through symbols and techniques that intuitively flow.