Anca Ion
Ceramic sculpture

I am a Spanish informative craftswoman potter from Pottery’s family, issued by the Generalitat of Catalonia; Member of the Association of Ceramists of Catalonia, and I am also graduated in Contemporary Applied Arts, Fire Arts in ceramics and glass at Massana school and Universitat Autònoma from Barcelona. Recently I was selected to be part of Homo Faber guide and events.

My alternative figurative sculptures explore the relationship between the persons and the nature. Through my artistic work, I invite the public to reflect and act for a better environment and in concordance with the Anthropocene, the impact of human beings on the Earth.

My pieces have been part of contemporary exhibitions in Spain, Portugal, Korea, Italy, Romania and Denmark. I have been finalist recently in competitions such as: the 17th Aveiro International Biennale of Artistic Ceramic 2025, European Ceramic Context 2024 Bornholm Denmark, the XIII International Ceramic Competition of El Vendrell 2024. Furthermore, I was awarded with the Mention of Honour for the work “Las Kokedamas” at N.A.C.E. Unique Piece Contest 2021, Spain and with the 1st Prize for the work “Substrats” at the 16th National Award of Ceramic “Ciutat de Castelló” (December,2022). My work belongs to the National Heritage of Castellon. Sometimes I am invited to talk about my process of work, about my recently work and to do short demonstrations and workshops.

Regarding my work, my goal is to express as much as I can my imagination about nature.

I create intricate sculptures in stoneware and porcelain which are inspired by microscopic studies of moss, leaves, branches and tree barks. I make use of Sciart to smudge the division between science and art. As methodology, I often go trekking to the mountains or fields, I take samples or take pictures. Later, in my studio I analyses the types of moss, tree, plant, to reproduce and transform it into a ceramic sculpture. 

My sculptures are like something out of a fantasy! Roots growing into a cylinder made on the pottery wheel or shapes exploding into different forms of the nature like sponges, smalls living beings, branch and trees transformed in little monsters. My historical references are Greek mythology, the archaeology, the observation of the nature. I am particularly fascinated by the organic shapes, but I also like the geometric ones because they talk about the relation between the nature and mathematic. The aesthetics of the work is to make visible that normally is invisible in the nature. Clay is used to recreate this shapes and texture inspired by nature, that suggest movement and motion for the nature.

In my work, I am looking for originality, fragility, and textures that people can see in nature. I use high temperatures materials, stoneware, porcelain, clays that reach a temperature of 1250º. In almost all my works, I use pigments and oxides.