A fascination with chaos and regeneration
- Lada played cello for 21 years before becoming a ceramicist
- Her pieces are collectible artefacts with authenticity certificates
- She creates her own glazes
Lada Donchenko fell in love with ceramics during a master class she attended as a hobby. A classically-trained cellist with a two-decade long career in music, she was enchanted by the freedom that the craft offers. “Ceramics have no limits, you sow your mark, your vision and your sense of harmony into the finished object,” Lada says. In 2020, she purchased a kiln and took her first steps in her craft. Lada’s works are entirely hand built and fired up to ten times. Not using a potter’s wheel or moulds gives her a chance to connect with clay on a more intimate, introspective level. Lada takes pride in the uniqueness of her objects, and each piece she makes has an authenticity certificate. "I observe nature’s processes and attempt to capture them in clay," she says.
Interview
- What are your primary sources of inspiration?
- I am inspired by entropy and death, as they are breeding grounds for the next stage of life. This includes things like mould, salt flows from rain on old buildings, fungi and microcosms. I am also inspired by complex emotions and the unsaid.
- What do you love most about ceramics?
- Ceramics is an exciting path of chemistry and fantasy. It is a process which forces me to put my trust into fire. I love the element of surprises that clay gives me, and I never run out of emotions in response. For me, working with ceramics is an opportunity to unleash potential.
- When did you open your own workshop?
- I started my practice in 2020, working from the attic of my house by myself. I first started with creating tableware, but I found that specialisations limit me, so I moved on to bigger projects.
- How would you define what you do?
- I create one-of-a-kind, collectible artefacts of inner landscapes. I like experimenting and exploring the possibilities of clay. My ceramic objects undergo up to ten firings, and I create the glazes myself.
Lada Donchenko is a rising star: she began her career in 2020
Where
Lada Donchenko
