Silvia Ivanova

Ceramic artist & founder of ARU

My journey with ceramics began in 2024, while studying Interior Design at university. At the time, much of my work involved creating three-dimensional forms digitally. As an artist, I often found myself missing the physical connection with the objects I was creating — the ability to touch them, move them and shape them with my own hands.

Everything changed when I discovered the ceramic sculptures in the university studio. I was immediately drawn to them and soon enrolled in a ceramics course. From the first time I touched clay, there was an unexpected sense of recognition. It felt like finding a material I had been searching for without knowing it.

After learning the foundations of hand-building and wheel throwing, curiosity became my greatest teacher. I continued experimenting independently, brought a pottery wheel into my home and eventually opened my own studio in the heart of Sofia, where I continue to work today.

Ceramics gradually became more than a creative practice. It became a way of seeing, living and connecting with others. That desire to turn something deeply personal into a way of life eventually gave birth to ARU.

At the heart of my work is a simple belief: objects made by hand and with intention carry something of their maker within them. My ambition is to create pieces that reach people through form, colour and touch — and bring them a little of the same joy I experience while creating them.