Bio

MJ_Bio_01
© Karamariestudios

Through my career in the humanitarian field, I found myself on assignment in Tunisia, where I rediscovered my passion for ceramics. Mesmerized by seeing local potters, working away on the wheel in their workshops, I discovered Sejnan and the variety of traditional techniques that have existed since the dawn of human craftsmanship and artistry. 

I quickly found myself taking my first-ever ceramic lessons in Tunis learning the traditional craft used for centuries in hand-building and coiling techniques and enjoying the freedom of sculpting. 

Clay had entered my veins, taking me to Daniela Vacca’s workshop in Roma, Italy, where I spent every minute, for four years, learning, studying, ”alchemysing”, crafting and growing as a ceramist, in Daniela’s inspiring and stimulating creative environment. Then came the decisive moment when I let go of my professional career in the world of international organizations and embraced my passion for ceramics to become an artist.

Artist Statement

Through my work, I seek to let the invisible express itself — to reveal what must be expressed, brought into being, as if serving as a vehicle for something greater than the self, while consciously shaping ideas and projects that balance the manifest and the yet-unmanifested. Through my research on ceramic forms and shapes, I explore and reinvent movement and form to capture a certain quality or energy that evokes the impulse to touch the ceramic pieces, to connect. At the same time, my projects on identity and self-delve into what it means to be a social being — a human among others unknown — tracing the boundaries and dissolutions of selfhood, the wounds and masks we bear, and our relationship to the Universe and our place within it, and its significance. This experience prompted me to expand my practice into different medium and art forms, such as sculpture, installation work and photographs.

Solo exhibitions

2024
“Project room” curated by Simon J. V. David, Galleria Ramo, Como, Italy.

Exhibitions

2026
“La Bohemia sta sul Mare” cutared by Riccardo Rizzetto, Biennale Internazionale Donna / V - Porto Vecchio, Trieste, Italy.
2025
“Beyond Boundaries” Didart Gallery, Milano, Italy.
2025
“L’Isola che non c’è ancora”curated by Peter Iancovich, Trieste, Italy
2024
“Transformations” curated by Daniel Canogar, Podere Trafonti, Montefollonico, Italy
2024
“Lightness” curated by Giovanna Massoni, Villa del Grumello – Lake Como Design Festival – Como, Italy
2024
“Primitivism” curated by Anna Rita Fasano - IV° International Matres Ceramics Festival - Cava de’ Tirreni, Italy

2023

“Breathing with the world” curated by Eunice Tsang - Biennale Internazionale Donna - Porto Vecchio, Trieste, Italy

2023

"The Other Animals" curated by Laura Petronella, Palazzo del Broletto – Lake Como Design Festival – Como, Italy

2023

"Vedersi nell’altro attraverso l’arte contemporanea" curated by artist Mustafa Sabbagh, Lugano, Switzerland

2022

“Naturantis” curated by Anna Rita Fasano - III° International Matres Ceramics Festival”- Cava de’ Tirreni, Italy

2021

“Afrodite, Dea Alchemica” curated by Grace Tower at Villa Arbusto, Lacco Ameno Ischia, Italy

2021

Guest artist at Galleria Ramo, Como, Italy

Portfolio

© Marie-José d’Aprile. All rights reserved.
© Marie-José d’Aprile. All rights reserved.