Resident Artist Lyuba Zhilkina

Drawing inspiration from the beautiful landscapes found throughout Aotearoa, New Zealand, Lyuba uses her expertise in balancing shapes and playing with proportions to create organic ceramic pieces that celebrate the beauty of natural imperfections. Her pieces strive beyond aesthetics, but serve as a reminder to pause and take a moment to appreciate the beauty of nature in all its forms.

During Lyuba's residency Lyuba her focus will be pottery wheel throwing, with a particular emphasis on altering wheel-thrown pieces to create unique shapes and forms. Lyuba will use her time at The Kilns at Te Horo to push the boundaries of traditional pottery design and create modern and unique tableware collections.

Experimenting with different clay, glazes, and slips, she will be exploring the way they interact with one another. She will fire the majority of her work in the ‘Hautere kiln’ - a salt and soda brick kiln, built by The Mirek Smíšek Arts Trust to emulate the effects Smíšek was able to achieve from his unique bee-hive kilns.

Lyuba is resident at Te Horo The Kilns Thursday-Sunday from 10-4pm until 21 July, 2024. Make sure you visit this unique venue and experience the artist at work, culminating in an exhibition of works celebrating artist and spirit of place.