Page 94 - VOL 8

Katia Berezovskaya

Born in 1973, read Economics at Cambridge University in the mid-90s. Started a career in sculpture about 5
years ago. Graduated from a Sculpture Diploma course and Post diploma course at Heatherley's School of Art
in London. During this time participated in several group shows. I work with clay, bark, resin, and plaster.

‘’In my practice, I seek to create a language of emotion inspired by objects and materials. By harnessing the emotional
resonance of these elements, I aim to evoke a visceral response in the viewer, allowing them to feel a range of emotions
and ponder larger questions. Nature's forms—its fragility, beauty, rawness, and everchanging state are central to this
dialogue. A stone, a branch, a stream of water—each carries within it a narrative of strength, weakness, transience, or
brilliance. It is the symbolic weight we assign to these natural elements that I wish to explore and expose, letting them
speak on my behalf. Additionally, many of the materials I work with carry traces of past lives, of histories lived and lost.
Through the mix of the natural and the personal, my works are interwoven, forming a continuous narrative that reflects both
individual and collective experiences. At the heart of my practice is the exploration of boundaries—between life and death,
between the real and the imagined. Our understanding of death, after all, is a construct of the imagination. We spend
much of our lives not only reflecting on the past or dreaming of the future but also playing out alternate realities in our
minds—scenarios that seldom align with what is tangible. These blurred lines between what is real and what is imagined,
between past, present, and future, are ever-shifting and subjective. They morph to accommodate our emotional states, our
memories, and our longings. Memories, too, evolve, shaped by time and desire, often becoming projections of unfulfilled
dreams or untold stories. My work attempts to create spaces imbued with a sense of otherworldliness, inviting the viewer to
search for deeper meanings within the familiar, and to reconsider the objects and scenes that populate these spaces.
Ultimately, my practice reflects on the permeability of the boundary between life and death. What we deem lifeless often
still holds the memory and essence of what once was. My work embraces this inevitable transformation, exploring how
objects and beings, even in death, carry with them the traces of their past existence. My ceramic series books, for example,
address the erosion of knowledge on a collective level —carefully preserved wisdom from our ancestors, now often
replaced by the fleeting, superficial information that surrounds us. At the same time, it explores the passing of individual
lives, page turns after page until one's life is over, leaving behind only vague memories. Through this, I aim to illuminate the
slow disappearance of that which once held great significance.’’

94 Twisted - Clay, glazes, 35x15x12cm, 2022