Iosifina Kosma
Everything starts with
a vision
The process of
creation
Clay and I
Μy work with clay has always been related to the fluidity of a curve or a cavity over which the viewer’s eye constantly glides. Although inspired by nature, I am not interested in the realistic depiction of a natural object.
After 25 years of continuously working with clay, I have become increasingly aware of the relationship between the way we touch the raw material and move when we work and how this is reflected in the aesthetic quality of the artwork. With every touch, the clay inscribes and coneys the quality of movement and emotions throughout the process of creation. Through this synergy of material and artist, creation becomes a constant challenge through which each and every one of us births what is inside their soul: their own unique approach to the world and life.
During the process of creation, some forms evovle into more extroverted and dynamic shapes, gain more movement, and unfold in space. Some others remain more static, but nonetheless, enclose a unique harmony and power in their simplicity.
While in the throes of creativity, my own artwork spurns me onwards and I observe this give-and-take relationship, and from being the one leading I allow myself to be led…
Bio
Iosifina Kosma was born in Athens in 1968. Her decision to pursue the art of ceramics was a result of the attraction she felt the first moment she experimented with clay at a very young age.
She graduated from the Moraitis High School in Athens and studied Architecture at the National Technical University of Athens until 1993. Her postgraduate studies at Middlesex University in London were concluded with honors in the field of ceramics in 1997. In 1999 she set up her first studio and began practicing and teaching at the same time. In 2017 she became a member of the International Academy of Ceramics (IAC). Today she lives and works in Athens.
Exhibitions & Symposiums
Genesis Gallery 2018
In this third solo exhibition, a new series of works called Flows is presented. It is a series of abstract forms that have an evolutionary relationship with the anthropomorphic sculptures of the earlier collections.
They are organic, forms that capture a sense of being, and exude wholeness and harmony. Depending on the ever-changing point of view, sometimes they welcome and accommodate, sometimes they expel, absorb and eradicate.
“Upon viewing Iosifina Kosma’s new project, the first difficulty one will encounter, is the attempt to classify it and then describe it to third parties.
Plunging into universes of pale sand and white primordial matter, her abstract clay forms whisper about the primacy of form, reminding us of a brilliant phrase by Margaret Atwood: “Genres aren’t closed boxes. Stuff flows back and forth across borders all the time.”
Iris Kritikou, curator
Ermoupoleia 2006
In the second solo exhibition, the female figures are different. Making use of the female body as a starting point, the forms escape from the realistic rendering of human proportions and focus on a harmonious composition of volumes, with their movements and poises evolving in favor of sculptural composition.
“In her second solo exhibition, Iosifina Kosma brings her women to conquer Syros. Voluptous, round, empowered,n and liberated, in positions that often transcend reality, her figures emerge as symbols which, far from any academic depiction, clearly show how skilfully their “mother” plays with clay and creates what her imagination dictates.”
Maro Kerasioti, Ceramicist
Skoufa Gallery: 2001
This first solo exhibition includes female figures that focus on the characteristics of the female nature associated with fertility, warmth, and strength. Works depicting full figures in comfortable, everyday poses convey a sense of mindful confidence and empowered pride in the naked female body.
“The naked figures that Iosifina Kosma creates are characterized by plasticity, and by frugality as a result of her intention to simplify form, as well by the attempt to arrange her axes on which she builds, combined with her massive, vibrant figures. The concave and prominent surfaces succeed one another and blend together in a unique way allowing the light to smoothly glide over them, which in sculpture comprises a difficult challenge. The shapes and the analysis of her forms have density proportional to the size of the composition she creates.”
Giorgos Georgiathis, Sculptor
SYMPOSIUMS
From 2004 to 2016, Iosifina Kosma participated in international symposiums, in China, India, Japan and Turkey. In the context of these symposium, she gave lectures presenting the development of her personal work and topics related to ceramic art and her country. At the same time, her artworks were presented alongside the creations of prestigious artists.
AWARDS
- 2010 | 49th Panhellenic Ceramics Exhibition | Maroussi | 2nd Commendation
- 2010 | International Competition |Qingdao, China |Gold Award
- 2021 |59th Panhellenic Ceramics Exhibition |Marousi |1stprize
