August 13, 2015
CERAMICIST + INTERIOR DESIGNER OLGA FRADINA
Olga Fradina started her working life as a graphic designer for a newspaper in her native Ukraine but after time was ready for a change. She migrated to work as an interior designer after she gained a following based on recommendations. Initially she worked for the design studio Kolo and later founded her own practice Pfayfer & Fradina with a former client, Lidiya Pfayfer, who wanted to work on a range of apartments. Last year Olga visited a friend who had a ceramic studio and after making her first objects, was hooked. She is based in Kiev and continues to work as an interior designer as well as a ceramicist.
Which five words best describe you? Freedom, air, texture, balance, logic.
How did you get your career start and what path have you taken since? I have been working with ceramics only since the start of this year and have been experimenting a lot. This autumn I am going to present my work for the first time during Design Week in Bologna.
What’s the best lesson you’ve learnt along the way? It is important to do what you consider to be right and to follow your own heart - this is the only way to obtain significant achievements.
What’s your proudest career achievement? It is still difficult to say as I feel like a student all the time and am always hoping to make improvements.
What’s been your best decision? Studying ceramics was a good decision - I enjoy it a lot and can’t stop doing it.
Who inspires you? I feel inspired by interesting people; fortunately, there are many of these kind of people. I have always loved reading biographies of great artists, gaining inspiration from their life experience and works.
What are you passionate about? Photography, art, cinema, contemporary art, and I adore travelling.
Which person, living or dead, would you most like to meet? Dalai Lama.
What dream do you still want to fulfill? I would love to move to the sea or in a village and have a workshop studio there.
What are you reading? Unfortunately, I don’t have enough time to read much literature. The last book I read was Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Hundred years of solitude. Generally, I read technique books about ceramics, and I look through a lot of magazines and visual information.
images courtesy of olga fradina