Artist Bio

Angela Maryska is a contemporary ceramic artist from Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

Her sculptural ceramics capture a sense of place, reflecting the colour, texture and layers of the Australian landscape.  With inspiration ranging from eroded granite monoliths in the Snowy Mountains to the geology and tidal debris of the aquatic Long Reef headland, Angela’s personal connection to these landscapes adds an intimate level of detail to her creations.

Using robust iron rich clay and fine porcelain, her works are hand built over several days to allow the clay to strengthen as the dimensions grow. Construction is a balancing act of fragility and tension, responding to how the clay flexes and drapes as it is attached.  Found objects from the landscape, such as eroded rock or seaweed fragments, are utilised as texture stamps and stencils. As the clay dries, the shape is enhanced with carving tools and patterns etched line by line into the waxy surface. Fingerprints, textures and carving provide an expressive surface for firing with the clay left either exposed or overlaid with glazes.

Angela’s unique glazes are developed, tested and tweaked in her home studio kiln and then applied with an artist’s eye. The alchemy between the clay body and multi-layered glazes produces striking, sometimes mystical, interactions during firing. The resulting rich colour swathes, the cracked and cratered textured surfaces or the fluid movement of her own glazes push far beyond what is possible with a commercial glaze. Her technical knowledge and research link the stories of environment, science and history to achieve results that are both unexpected and rewarding.

Angela’s journey as a practising artist began in 2001 when she reconnected with her creativity through fine art painting. Attending Balmain Art School, masterclasses and a full year’s mentorship culminated in a solo painting exhibition in 2014. Discovering the versatility of ceramics as a three-dimensional canvas in 2017, she completed six years of ceramic studies at Northern Beaches TAFE, graduating with a Diploma of Visual Arts (Ceramics) in 2020, followed by an Advanced Diploma in 2022.