Biliana POPOVA


Born 1974, Varna, Bulgaria

Masters of Arts in Ceramics from the National Academy of Arts, Ceramics Department, Sofia, Bulgaria 1993-1998
Vocational High School for Fine Arts “Academic Petrov”, Sofia, Bulgaria 1988-1993

2005 Digital Photography for the Studio Potter, American Ceramic Society – Design Chapter, LA
2004 Surface Decoration and Development of Sculpture, Burbank Creative Art Center, Burbank, CA.

My Objects of Function have black and white lines and vivid colors, some with lichen-like surfaces. The symbolism of the horizontal lines reflects the temporal world and the vertical reflects the spiritual reality. The correlation of both reflects the man-made, the synthetic and the artificial. The bright vivid colors reflect the nature of the earth, the sky and all the joyful vegetation around us. My emphasis is the diversity of the two, in contrast to each other.

My pieces are all hand built from stoneware, using simple tools like hardwood tools for modeling, metal kidney shapes for scraping and smoothing, and a needle tool for cutting the clay. Particular attention goes to the surface, which is usually sanded for many hours to a smoothness that resembles a canvas-like surface. I use a variety of glazes and colored slips. The series of white figures have a finish of white terra-sigillata, which is super-refined clay applied and burnished with the palm of my hand and then low-fired. I strike for surface perfection, although the little imperfections are what remind us that they are made by the human hand.

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