Antigoni Pantazi - Ceramics Design

Exhibition MATERIALITY 2025 @ T.A.F. ATHENS - 6-23/11

T.A.F. / the art foundation presents the group exhibition of contemporary ceramics entitled MATERIALITY, curated by Antigoni Pantazi.

Ceramics, although one of the most ancient arts, still surprises us with its unlimited possibilities, the unexpected combinations of materials, where the final result is revealed when the fire heats the material through the firing process, revealing its endless dimensions.

Fourteen distinguished artists who experiment and attempt to expand the boundaries of familiar perceptions of what ceramics is, centered on the belief that risks as well as breaking rules create innovation, present us with their own perspective through their works.

In the art space of T.A.F. we will have the opportunity to see firsthand how each artist approaches the theme materiality: shaping an object through the synthesis of various materials and processes, exploring new ways of applying familiar techniques, harmoniously combining natural and industrial materials, overturning the usual relationship between space-work-light, revealing the contrasts of the narrative of the materials.

Participating artists:

Christopoulos Ilias, Kalogeropoulou Natassa, Kollia Myrto, Koropouli Haroula, Mamoutzis Giannis, Manali Elena, Pantazi Antigoni, Papargyropoulou Faye, Siaterli Vera, Sklavenitis Nikos, Tsirakoglou Theodora, Tsirou Ifigenia, Vavatsis Giorgos, Xenaki Melina.

Opening: November 6, 2025 at 7pm

Exhibition duration: November 6 to 23

Opening hours: Wednesday – Friday 6pm – 10pm, Saturday and Sunday 3pm – 10pm

Address: Normanou 5, Monastiraki

Free admission

Participants

Christopoulos Ilias

“Breasts”, wheel thrown, porcelain, transfer, wood, glass, rubber, 1240^oC

Matter as body. Porcelain as skin.

In Breasts, materiality speaks – it becomes a vessel of memory, femininity, and vulnerability. Porcelain, cool to the touch yet radiant in light, transforms into skin that remembers, into a surface that carries traces of presence and absence.

The form of the breast, archetypal and familiar, rises from the material to express what language struggles to hold – loss, fear, and rebirth. Materiality here is not merely technique but experience: it is the touch that heals, the fracture that reveals, the transformation that gives meaning.

Through porcelain, the work becomes a tribute to all women who have lived through breast cancer – those who fought, those who triumphed, and those who left behind light. The material, fragile yet eternal, becomes the medium through which life itself insists on being felt, seen, and remembered.

BIO

Ilias Christopoulos was born in Kalamata in 1976. He has studied ceramics with Hero-Myrto Maganari and Saimon Hill and at the Ceramics School of the Municipality of Nicaea. He is member of Chamber of Fine Arts of Greece and of International Academy of Ceramics. He has won 3 awards and 3 praises at Pan-Hellenic Ceramic Exhibitions. He has conducted 3 solo exhibitions of ceramics in Greece. He has participated in 30 group exhibitions of ceramics in Greece and in 18 abroad, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Denmark, China and Japan. His works are in private collections in the Municipality of Maroussi, Anetopoulos Museum (Volos), ceramic museums in Slovenia, Hungary, Spain and Japan. He has collaborated with the workshops of DEPA Patras, Kalamata, Ioannina and Kyparissia, as well as with the Athens Concert Hall in the training program of the George_Pompidou Center, the Pedagogical Department of the University of Patras, and collaborates with Artistic Centre of Kalamata and Alkioni Association in Nafpaktos. He is founder of Group Ceramists Traces and keeps ceramic workshops at Kalamata and Patras, where he lives and creates.

contact: iliaschristopoulos@hotmail.com

Kalogeropoulou Natassa

“Memory of Matter”, porcelain, stoneware, glazes, 1220^oC

A silent witness to the human journey,

clay is a material that remembers —

it holds traces, it transforms without decay.

Inside the kiln, time stands still;

what was fleeting finds duration,

and what was fragile learns to endure.

Upon the black clay surfaces,

nature leaves its mark.

Herbs and wild grasses,

once adorning the barren hills of Serifos,

were dipped in porcelain;

and there, in the meeting with fire,

the memory of matter is born —

an imprint of the ephemeral

that insists on becoming eternal.

BIO

Clay changed my life… Born in Athens, I studied Communication & Business Administration. Until 2012 I worked as top manager in the Media sector, editor in magazines, screenwriter for cinema and TV.

In 2007 I had my first experience with Clay and loved it. I was fortunate to meet and have a series of seminars and workshops with gifted teachers. In 2014 I co-founded KERAMEIO Ceramic studio in Serifos Island, Cyclades.

Clay is my way of communicating with myself and, therefore, with others. By exploring this material, I sense the possibility to express myself through understanding nature’s secrets, respecting its rules and limitations. In KERAMEIO Ceramic Studio I develop an ongoing research into the field of ceramics, personalizing work techniques, exploring color schemes. Working with ceramics is a way to be present here, in the now. Every piece you create is unique. It changes over time, it ages, it feels human. So every time I open a fired kiln I keep feeling a mixt of worry and excitement. Generally speaking, my work explores the layered landscapes and sea-washed coasts of Serifos, so all of my handmade stoneware pieces are characterized by curved lines and simple forms.

contact: natassamy@gmail.com

Kollia Myrto Danai

“Balloons”, liquid porcelain, shards of coloured earthenware and glazes, 1240^oC

In the work Balloons, she explores how a ceramic object can take form through the synthesis of different materials and processes.

Using:

- Air, captured within a frame (balloon)

- Twine, which, when tied around the frame, creates a skeleton

- Cast porcelain, which, through dipping and coating the skeleton, forms a body

- Fragments — remnants of materials — spread across the surface, giving distinct characteristics and a sense of history

Each carries a similar, familiar story — yet always a little different

BIO

Myrto Danai Kollia has 15 years of experience in the design and production of ceramic objects and artistic ceramics. Her first encounter with ceramics took place in Oslo, Norway, in 2010, where she worked until 2014. She mainly works with stoneware and porcelain, and her practice is characterized by experimentation with materials and techniques. She collaborates with museums and restaurants, and regularly participates in art exhibitions. Since 2014, she has been the owner of Pyroga, a ceramics workshop in the center of Athens, and since 2024 she has also been involved in teaching ceramics. In 2015, her work received the 1st Prize at the 53rd Panhellenic Ceramic Art Competition.

contact: myrtoko@gmail.com

Koropouli Haroula

Stoneware, lava and ash glazes, oxides, 1260^oC

What is characteristic of my works are the simple forms, the rough surfaces of the clay and the volcanic textures that remind you of rocks, rocks and earth masses, through platters, utility boxes and large bowls. I work with high temperature clays that have the ability after firing to create all of the above combined with ash glasses that I make myself. I add niches in relief and intaglios that remind you of shells and remove parts of the original volume with the aim of incorporating the "void" into the work. Emptiness as a theme is something that has occupied me for the last four years and I try through spherical forms to give it space and value within the work, to have a quiet dialogue between these two and to coexist equally.

BIO

Studies:

2000-2011 Courses of ceramics at the Laboratory of Plastic Arts at the Public Enterprise of Cultural Development of Patras [DEPAP], teacher Ilias Christopoulos

Seminars:

Participation to seminars in the following techniques:

Furnace of open fire (Ilias Christopoulos)
Raku (Ilias Christopoulos & Theodora Chorafas)
Smoking with sawdust (Ilias Christopoulos)
Personalized techniques (Giorgos Vavatsis & Hara Bahariou)
3d decoration (Velimir Vukicevic)
Saggar (Maro Kerasioti)
Clay transformation (Rafa Perez)

Group Exhibitions

2010 49th Pan-Hellenic Exposition of Artistic Ceramic, Marousi, Greece

2012 Group Exposition “Ceramists Traces”, Patras, Greece

Group Exposition “Contemporary Ceramics”, Athens, Greece

50th Pan-Hellenic Exposition of Artistic Ceramic, Marousi, Greece

8th International Biennale of Ceramics, Kapfenberg, Austria

2014 52nd Pan-Hellenic Exposition of Artistic Ceramic, Marousi, Greece (1st Award)

Group Exhibition “Ceramists Traces 2014, The beginning”, Archaeological Museum of Patras, Greece

Group Ceramic Exhibition, Artistic Center of Kalamata, Greece

2015 Group Ceramic Exhibition, Gallery Palissandros, Patra, Greece

Ceramic Exhibition in Symposium of Byzantine Ceramics, Palaia Kardamili, Greece

Group Ceramic Exhibition, "Gallery Kea", Kea, Greece

2016 Group ceramic exhibition, Archaeological Museum of Patras, Greece

Group ceramic exhibition, Gallery Boicos, Paxoi, Greece

Group ceramic exhibition "Duality", Kardamili, Greece

5th Exhibition of Artistic Ceramics, Gallery Exodos, Athens, Greece

Latvia International Ceramics Biennale

2017 Group ceramic exhibition "Duality", Archaeological Museum of Patras, Greece

International Group ceramic exhibition "Delphi", Archaeological Museum of Delphi, Greece

Group art exhibition, Kardamili, Greece

2018 4th International Documentary Festival, Art exhibition, Kalamata, Greece

Contemporary Ceramic Exhibition PELLA "geo-metry", Archaeological Museum of Pella, Greece

Group ceramic exhibition, Gallery Boicos, Paxoi, Greece

2019 5th International Documentary Festival, Art exhibition, Kalamata, Greece

Group Ceramic Exhibition, Gallery Agora Argiri, Patras, Greece

XIV International Biennial of Ceramics of Manises organization, Manises, Spain

2020 Group Ceramic Exhibition of the members of Group of Ceramists Traces, Gallery 6exi, Thessaloniki, Greece

2021 6th Ceramics Exhibition, Archaeological Museum of Olympia, Greece

Group Ceramics Exhibition "Melana", Athens, Greece

2022 Group Exhibition at the Museum of Geological Formations, Kalambaka, Greece

Group Exhibition of Artists, Didymo Ottoman Bath, Trikala, Greece

7th Ceramics Exhibition, Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, Greece

2023 Exhibition of Greek Ceramicists in Biot, France

Exhibition Gallery Matia, Aegina, Greece

2024 Exhibition "piato" Gallery 6exi, Thessaloniki, Greece

Exhibition "Flowers-Fruits", Marginalia Gallery, Nicosia, Cyprus

Group Ceramics Exhibition, Gallery Melanythros, Athens, Greece

Group Ceramics Exhibition, Gallery "Exi", Thessaloniki, Greece

Group Ceramics Exhibition "Irish and Greek Ceramic Art", St. Carthage Cathedral, Lismore, Ireland

Group Exhibition of Ceramics, «Artlab» Gallery, Serifos, Greece

Group Exhibition of Ceramics, «Melena» Public Gallery, Aegina, Greece

Group Exhibition of Ceramics, Tomato Museum, Santorini, Greece

Group Exhibition of Ceramics «Irish and Greek Ceramic Art», Center for the Study of Modern Ceramics, Greece

Group Exhibition of Ceramics, Center for the Study of Modern Ceramics, Athens, Greece

Haroula Koropouli is founding member of Group of Ceramists Traces since 2012.

contact: haroulako@hotmail.com

Mamoutzis Giannis

Black and grey stoneware, glazes, 1220^oC

Clay can record with great precision the movements and touch of the creator.
In ceramics, with the help of various materials, glossy and matte surfaces are achieved with or without transparency in a wide range of colors.
The aim of the work here is to highlight these properties of the materials.

BIO

Giannis Mamoutzis was born in Maroussi-Athens in 1980. He got himself into painting, sculpture with clay and technology of ceramic glazes. Since 2008 he works in his personal workshop upon the implementation of his designs, benefiting from all the knowledge he obtained and all the stimuli around him.

contact: mamoutzis@gmail.com

Manali Elena

“The Healing”, stoneware, engobes, 24K gold leaf, light, 1200^oC

Two faces with closed eyes — one both cold and warm, the other both spiritual and earthly — two versions of the same silence, becoming silent witnesses of inner states. Tears, the common element of both forms, flow across the skin, leaving golden traces in the cracks they carve, releasing an inner light.
Within the framework of Materiality, clay is not neutral; fragile yet strong, it becomes a symbolic vessel where wounds are transformed into healing.

BIO

Her engagement with ceramics began in 1997 at the Municipality of Kallithea, where she studied under the ceramicist Katerina Tsimichodimou. Since 2000, she has been attending painting classes with the painter Christos Papadakis, also at the Municipality of Kallithea. In 2014–2015, she attended courses on material technology, application techniques, and aesthetics at PEKA, with instructor Kostas Tarkasis, at Clayart Open Studio until 2019.

She has participated in numerous exhibitions in Greece and abroad, including several Panhellenic Ceramic Exhibitions at PEKA (45th, 46th, 47th, 54th, 55th, 56th, 57th, 58th, and 59th), the 6th Ceramic Exhibition at the Museum of Ancient Olympia (2021), Ritual Vessels at Chimera Arts & Crafts and at the Ritsona Crematorium (2022), ANAMMA (2023), Pandora’s Box (2024), Painting and Sculpture (2022), Women Ceramic Artists of Greece (2024) at MON COIN, and 5 Fragments (group exhibition) at Nord Spetses (2022).

Internationally, she participated in the 41st International Ceramics Biennale in Alcora, Portugal (2022), the 3rd International Ceramics Biennale in Latvia (2021), the 15th International Artistic Ceramics Biennale in Aveiro (2021), and held a solo exhibition in 2019 at the Cultural Venue in Batsi, Andros. In 2024, she also took part in the 1st Symposium of Amarynthos.

She was awarded an Honorable Mention at the 58th Panhellenic Ceramics Competition (2020) and received the Prize at the International Virtual Exhibition of Ceramics organized by the Bon Art Project with the theme “Transformation” (2021).

Her works are included in private collections in Greece and abroad, as well as in the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre. She lives and works in Athens.

contact: helenasmnl@gmail.com

Pantazi Antigoni

“Clouds”, stoneware, porcelain monoprint, glaze shards, 1200^oC

Clouds have been a constant inspiration in my work. Feeling trapped between city’s buildings, the clouds offer me a breath of beauty and a pause from everyday stress. They are a shot of dream amidst the gloom of the tedious. My gaze always craves to rest on them, where the mind and the soul can calm down for a while. Through this project, I try to transform the intangible and ethereal into matter, into objects that, although sturdy, convey a sense of lightness to the viewer.

BIO

Antigoni Pantazi lives and works in Athens, Greece. In 1998, she had her first contact with ceramics. In 2006 she graduated from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff (now Cardiff Metropolitan University) with a first-class degree in Ceramics and she was awarded the “Welsh Assembly Government’s First Minister’s Award”. She has also studied conservation of works of art and cultural events organization.

In 2008 she opened her own studio in Ilion, Athens where she creates and showcases her work as well as teaching ceramics to adults. She also teaches ceramics to adults at various public and private cultural centers and schools. She was the tutor for ceramics for a decade at the Cultural Centre of Petroupolis.

She has participated in exhibitions and contests in Greece and abroad, among them the European Ceramics Context in Denmark (2010) and UNICUM in Slovenia (2023). She has been part of the writers’ team for educational ceramics guides. Some of her works are included in books about ceramics by the American publications “Lark Books”. She is a member of the Greek Chamber of Fine Arts.

contact: antipantazi@yahoo.com

Papargyropoulou Faye

“_Echo”, white stoneware clay & porcelain, 1220℃

Ιn the world of my ceramics, clay becomes a vessel of memory and sensation.

I transfer textures and materials that awaken scents, landscapes, and fleeting moments, tiny glimpses of the past and of nature.

Each piece is a play with the eyes and the senses, a dialogue that invites you to see it up close, to touch it, to explore it.

My inspiration comes from living beings, from nature that breathes and moves, and I strive to convey this energy into the clay.

I play with textures, weights, and the limits of materials, creating works that trick the eye, awaken memories, and leave space for imagination.

BIO

Faye Papargyropoulou, born in Athens on February 21, 1974, is a ceramic artist and designer based in Athens. In 1992, she began her studies in art & design with a scholarship in industrial design. After 20 years as a creative director at leading advertising agencies, she founded her own creative agency, ABOUT: CREATIVE AGENCY. In 2020, she took the next step in her creative journey by establishing her ceramic studio, CERAMIC 47. Based in Athens, CERAMIC 47 is her personal space for artistic expression, where Faye creates unique ceramic works that highlight the beauty of imperfection and challenge traditional notions of form and functionality. Through her work, she combines the past with the present, reflecting a deep appreciation for art, nature, and contemporary design.

contact: ceramicfortyseven@gmail.com

Siaterli Vera

“GAIA”, terra sigillata, 980^οC

In Greek mythology, Gaia is the primordial goddess of the Earth, the "great mother of all" and the divine personification of the planet. She was one of the first cosmic beings, along with

Chaos and Eros, and symbolized the material side of the World.

The relationship between space, work, and light highlights the circular shape of the shadow created on the wall, referring to the shape of the Earth. The projection highlights its multidimensional materiality and semiotics, through an understanding of the work's function, such as the stability of rocks in contrast to the ephemeral nature of the projection. The female depiction leads to an additional meaning and redefinition of the values that derive from it, such as the approach to the concept of femininity with circularity and rocks, which transform the sculpture and are transformed by the sculpture.

BIO

Vera Siaterli studied ceramics in Italy: State Institute of Ceramic Art in Faenza and St Giacomo School of Decorative Arts, Rome. She also obtained a degree in painting from the School of Fine Arts in Rome. Since 1981, she is teaching ceramics in private, public, and state institutions.

She has also organized and taught seminars on special firing techniques and special decoration techniques. Since 1985, she has held two solo exhibitions and has participated in many group

exhibitions in Greece (Athens, Piraeus, Kifissia, Thessaloniki, Rethymno, Ierapetra, Skopelos, Mytilene, Argos, Nafplio, Tzia, Chania, Patras) and abroad (Italy, Belgium, France, England, Canada, Turkey). She participated in the research program EUREKA-yalomata (MODERN TECHNOLOGICAL METHODS) Terra sigillata and nanotechnology-Experimental Applications. In 2005, she made the vessels for the Olympic flame lighting ceremony for the Winter Olympic Games in Turin in 2006 and Beijing in 2008, and for the Ministry of Culture (curated by archaeologist G. Papathanassopoulos) replicas of Neolithic vessels for the archaeological site of Alepotrypa Dyrou. In 2002, she won first prize at the Panhellenic Ceramics Exhibition. She has also performed: in 2013 at the National Technical University of Athens on the theme of "Vow of Rebellion", in 2015 at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, "Vow of Expectation", 2016 at the Numismatic Museum, "Vow of Passage", 2017 at the Xouthou project, "Vow of Visibility", and 2019 at the Alexandra General Hospital, "Vow of Fertility".

contact: verasiaterli@gmail.com

Sklavenitis Nikos

“Double Axe”, stoneware, semi-reductive firing, 1050^oC

The double-edged axe, the labrys, orchestrating the labyrinth of dreams, balancing the horizontality and verticality of this world, rightfully weaving the geometry of space.

Journeying from sky to earth, from sun to moon, it gathers the seeds of growth and of love for the Spring yet to come.

contact: nsklaveniths@gmail.com

Tsirakoglou Theodora

“Double Gear”, stoneware, glaze, 1160°C

Through this sculpture, I express my desire to connect the world of mechanics with the organic flow of nature. Its form, somewhere between a gear and a sunburst, reflects the constant tension I experience between order and freedom.

The central void symbolizes the core of energy, the point from which everything begins, while the vivid red color reveals passion, vitality, and intensity. The sharp yet flowing lines mirror my own search for balance within perpetual movement.

With this work, I invite the viewer to look beyond the coldness of technology and discover the organic, almost living essence that can emerge even from a seemingly mechanical form.

BIO

Theodora was born in Athens. From 2008 to 2010, she was a part of the ceramic seminar creative program at the municipality of Neo Irakleio, while for the next two years she followed ceramic courses at the studio of Vasiliki Charolidi. From 2014 to 2015, she followed seminars about materials technology, technical applications and aesthetics at the Panhellenic Union of Ceramists and Potters under the instruction of Kostas Tarkasis with whom studied contemporary ceramics at Clay in Art Open Studio, for 3 years.

She started her personal ceramics studio in 2013.

COMPETITIONS – JURIED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025 Finalist- 1st International Ceramics Sculpture Triennale (ICST) -Warsaw, Poland.

2023 Finalist-Zaragoza, Spain, the XVIII Premio CERCO, Zaragoza, Spain

Finalist- the XXX Concorso di Ceramica Contemporanea "Mediterraneo", Grottaglie, Italy.

Finalist- The V International Ceramics Triennial UNICUM, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

2022 Finalist- The XV International Biennal of Ceramics of Manises, Manises, Spain.

2021 Finalist- The XV International Biennial of Artistic. Ceramics of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.

Finalist - Latvia Ceramics Biennale Martinsons Award Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre, Daugavpils, Latvia.

2019 Finalist- The International Cluj Ceramics Biennale, Cluj, Romania.

Finalist- “CONTEMPORARY SPACE ATHENS” Art hall - “ENERGY ATHENS” by the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies in cooperation with The Chicago Athenaeum International Museum, Athens.

Finalist-57th Pan-Hellenic Competition of Artistic Ceramic, Athens, Greece.

2018 Finalist-56th Pan-Hellenic Competition of Artistic Ceramic Athens, Greece.

2017 Finalist-55th Pan-Hellenic Competition of Artistic Ceramic Athens, Greece.

2016 Finalist-54th Pan-Hellenic Competition of Artistic Ceramic Athens, Greece.

2015 Finalist-53th Pan-Hellenic Competition of Artistic Ceramic Athens, Greece.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025 EDISON’S DREAM, CHIMERA Art and Craft, Syros Island, Greece.

ΕΝ ΑΜΑΡΥΝΘΩΙ- “Back to the Light”, Amarynthos, Evia Island, Greece.

2024 “Countdown: 100 Nights + One Extra Night”, ASR Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran.

“ΜΕΛΑΝΑ”, Municipal Gallery of Aegina, Aegina Island, Greece.

“GREEK CERAMICS TODAY”. Tomato Industrial Museum Santorini.

“Women Ceramic Artists of ", Functional Ceramics & Art de la Table, MON COIN studio Athens, Greece.

“Women Ceramic Artists of Greece", Timeless Sculpture & Sculptural decorative ceramics, MON COIN studio, Athens, Greece.

2023 “ANAMMA” - CHIMAIRA Art & Craft Syros Island, Greece.

“World of Ceramics”, Arandjelovac, Serbia.

2022 “RETUAL VASSELS”, Crematorium Ritsona, Ritsona, Greece.

C+ international exchange exhibition, Jincheon, Korea.

The 5th C+ international exchange exhibition, Jangan Art Space, Korea.

“RETUAL VASSELS” CHIMAIRA Art & Craft, Syros Island, Greece.

“5 FRAGMENTS”, Nord Gallery, Spetses Island, Greece.

C+ international exchange exhibition, Craft village museum, Jincheon, Korea.

“SCULPTURE AND PAINTING”, MON COIN studio, Athens, Greece.

2021 Module IV: SAKE Cup Project (Part of the exhibition "Quieter than Silence _The Space Between'' Manhattan, New York.

MON COIN studio – “KERAMIKO DESIGN”, Athens, Greece.

CHIMAIRA Art & Craft – “Aegean Tea”, Syros Island, Greece.

Archeological Museum of Ancient Olympia, Olympia, Greece.

“ΜΕΛΑΝΑ” Exhibition, Hellenic American Union, Athens, Greece.

2020 September, Athens, MON COIN studio - “ANCIENT VIBES IN CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS”.

2018 September, Athens, “EXODOS” Art Hall. September 2015, Athens, “EXODOS” Art Hall. November 2015, Athens, “Time of Art Gallery”.

RESIDENCIES

2025 Jinxi Art Museum, Jingdezhen, China –- current.

2024 October – December, Taoxichuan Art Center, Jindezhen, China- invited artist.

April – June, Yingge Ceramics Museum, New Taipei City, Taiwan – selected artist.

SYMPOSIUMS

2025 13th International Ceramic Art Symposium “Ceramic Laboratory 2025”, Rothko Museum, Daugavpils, Latvia – selected artist.

2022 The 48th Symposium "World of Ceramics", Arandjelovac, Serbia, – invited artist.

2021 The 8th Mehmet Nuri Göçen Ceramics Symposium, Kusadasi,Turkey - invited artist.

WORKSHOPS / LECTURES

2025 Rothko Museum, Daugavpils, Latvia (lecture)

2024 Taoxichuan Art Center, Jindezhen, China (lecture)

2024 Yingge Ceramics Museum, New Taipei City, Taiwan – (lecture/ workshop)

2024 Tamsui, New Taipei City, Taiwan. (workshop)

2024 National University of Education, New Taipei City, Taiwan – (lecture)

2021 Kusadasi,Turkey, The 8th Mehmet Nuri Göçen Ceramics Symposium – (lecture)

ACCOMPISHMENTS

Member of the International Academy of Ceramics since 2025.

Member of the Chamber of Fine Arts of Greece since 2022.

COLLECTIONS

Latvian Center for Contemporary Ceramics, Daugavpils, Latvia.

Rothko Museum, Daugavpils, Latvia.

Taoxichuan Art Center, Jindezhen, China.

Yingge Ceramics Museum, New Taipei City, Taiwan.

National Museum of Arandjelovac, Serbia.

Santa Joana Museum of Aveiro, Portugal.

Pine Bay Resort, Kusadasi, Turkey.

The artist lives and works in Athens

contact: ttsirakoglou@gmail.com

Tsirou Ifigenia

“Light in Roughness”, Paper porcelain, minerals, special glaze mixture with the

addition of copper oxide, fired up to 1240^οC

The work "Light in Roughness", by using material contrasts, mirrors the

contradictions found in social and interpersonal relationships. Porcelain, with

its delicate texture, coexists with minerals, while the base that supports them

is solid and heavy, creating a contrast between the gentle and the rough.

Light, a symbol of hope, interacts with hard and uneven surfaces.

The viewer is invited to reflect on how different materials influence perception

and experience, and to relate this idea to the everyday challenges and the

ongoing effort to remain “human,” preserving hope in increasingly inhumane

conditions.

BIO

Based in Thessaloniki, she has been professionally engaged in ceramics since 2010, following ten years working in advertising. With a background in Business Administration and Management, she discovered in ceramics a way to combine her need for creativity with functionality and expression. She is cofounder of Hakah Ceramics Design Production, where she designs and creates handmade ceramic pieces, and in recent years she has been teaching ceramics to adults. At the same time, she is part of the team at 6exi Contemporary Ceramics, a space dedicated to contemporary ceramic art in Thessaloniki. Through her work, she explores textures, contrasts, and the stories that materials can tell.

contact: ifigeniatsirou@gmail.com

Vavatsis Giorgos

Stoneware & earthenware clays, raw minerals from mnt. Chortiatis, volcanic glaze, raw iron ochre, 1240^oC

Matter defines substance. Everything is made of particles of matter that are constantly in motion. In tension. And thus, life exists. The spirit, emotion, and all things ideal are our own creations, and will therefore perish along with us. In every possible way, matter is restructured, transformed, yet it continues to exist—stretching into infinity. Immortality. The weight of the creator is similar. The transformation of matter—of that which once was, which is, and which will continue to move through the infinite—renders creation a tremendous, almost cursed, responsibility for anyone who dares to pursue it.

BIO

Giorgos Vavatsis was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. He studied Visual & Live Art in Gloucestershire University, England. His ceramic works has been shown in several solo and group exhibitions in Greece and abroad. He participated in various ceramic symposiums around Europe and Asia. In 2012, he won the 1st prize in the 50th Panhellenic Ceramic Competition and in 2024 the 1st prize in the 1st Biennale of Contemporary Keramics, Greece. He owns “6exi Contemporary Ceramics”, since 2017. He is a member of International Academy of Ceramics (IAC) since 2021.

contact: qpsclay62@gmail.com

Xenaki Melina

Print 1 Materializing sound (2473 Hz)

Print 2 Materializing sound (6690 Hz)

Print 3 Materializing sound (6800 Hz)

Porcelain, underglazes

These standing wave patterns or Chladni patterns were created by playing specific resonance frequencies through a speaker which vibrated a metal sheet sprinkled with grains of colour. Clay was pressed onto the metal sheet, resulting in a direct print of the underglaze powders.

BIO

Melina Xenaki (b. 1989 in Athens, Greece) is an Athens based ceramics artist. After completing her BA in Ceramics & Glass (UCA, Farnham, 2012) the maker moved to London to complete her two-year Masters Degree at the Royal College of Art (2014) where Martin Smith, Felicity Aylieff and Alison Britton were her tutors. After her graduation she spent 8 years living and working in London as a ceramic artist and in 2020 she returned to her hometown Athens, set up her own studio and founded the very first biannual independent ceramics fair.

Trained to deliver high end craftsmanship in the lines of British studio pottery, Melina is inspired by ancient artifacts and folk art found in the region of the Mediterranean, from the Bronze Age Cypriot ritualistic pots to 19th century traditional Cretan embroideries, her pieces carry patterns, animals and plants, realizing a dialogue of earth, fire and living things of the Great Sea across millennia.

In the past years, Melina Xenaki has worked on a series of international projects notably sculptural decorations for the Louis Vuitton Deep Time High Jewelry Collection launch events which took place in Athens and Peloponnesus, Greece (2023). Melina created an exclusive collection for the shop of the British Museum during the "Troy: Myth & Reality" exhibition (2019), and inspired by the artefacts presented in the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture she makes pieces for the shop (2020 and ongoing).

She has collaborated with haute cuisine chefs to create exclusive ceramics, namely the 2-Michelin-starred DELTA restaurant (2021) and the 2-FNL-starred restaurant NYN ΕΣΤΙ (2024), as well as with architects to create unique site specific ceramic installations such as the "Welcome Bench" for the 1-Michelin-starred Imperfecto Restaurant, Washington, DC (2020), a project by award winners OOAK Architects.

She has participated at a multitude of group shows, more recently in London with rossogranada and the Invisible Collection for the ‘Resilient Clay’ exhibition under the official programme of the London Craft Week (2023) and the Art Athina International Contemporary Art Fair, Athens, Greece (2022).

She first appeared in the ceramics international scene at the Milan Design Week (2017). She has taken part in significant ceramic fairs such as Earth & Fire, Workshop, UK (2019), Oxford Ceramics Fair, Oxford, UK (2019) and most importantly Ceramic Art London, London (2024).

Melina's commissioned pieces live in the Phāea Blue hotel in Crete, the Abyss and the Mystique hotels in Santorini, in the Mykonos Blu Grecotel Boutique Hotel and the Patmos Aktis and the Westin, Costa Navarino of the of Marriott Bonvoy Collection. Her fine art ceramics are exhibited in galleries and held in private collections all over the world.

contact: melinaxenaki@gmail.com

MY BASKET

Exhibition MATERIALITY 2025 @ T.A.F. ATHENS - 6-23/11

Participants

Christopoulos Ilias

Christopoulos Ilias

Kalogeropoulou Natassa

Kalogeropoulou Natassa

Kollia Myrto Danai

Kollia Myrto Danai

Koropouli Haroula

Koropouli Haroula

Mamoutzis Giannis

Mamoutzis Giannis

Manali Elena

Manali Elena

Pantazi Antigoni

Pantazi Antigoni

Papargyropoulou Faye

Papargyropoulou Faye

Siaterli Vera

Siaterli Vera

Sklavenitis Nikos

Sklavenitis Nikos

Tsirakoglou Theodora

Tsirakoglou Theodora

Tsirou Ifigenia

Tsirou Ifigenia

Vavatsis Giorgos

Vavatsis Giorgos

Xenaki Melina

Xenaki Melina