Nadia Frolova moved to Lisbon four years ago and already feels that it's her home. She left Saint Petersburg to pursue her passion for ceramics, which has transformed from a hobby into a profession. She gave up designing perfect systems (she was a designer in a technology company) in order to embrace imperfection and asymmetry in her pieces. She describes her own work as being something between chaos and order, abstract and figurative, art and science. It's no coincidence that the latter pair was one of the central themes of the master's degree she completed at the Faculty of Fine Arts.
The way she works with glazes is an example of this. It's an experimental process through which she obtains her own pigments. The same logic applies to the way she explores the dynamics of this material – Nadia's sculptures obey organic forms, vary in scale and alternate functionality and decorative value.
The same freedom in the approach to ceramics is reflected in the schedule of courses and workshops at her Frolamics Studio. From quick classes – where participants are challenged to create a simple piece, such as a vase or a candlestick – to longer courses – where students go through the entire process of designing, creating and glazing a piece. Teaching is Nadia's second passion, and these days she welcomes apprentices of all nationalities to her studio. Interestingly, they all have the same reaction when they get their hands on the clay: they slow down, reconnect with manual labour and almost "become children”.