ceramics – Circle Foundation for the Arts

Weiting Wei

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Weiting Wei (b. 1984, FuJian China) received her MFA in Visual Art from Columbus College of Art & Design in 2018. She is a multimedia artist creating works out of paper, wax, clay, and soap. Her sculptural work uses traditional elements to explore very personal, yet universal, experiences of motherhood. The lotus is used as a central theme to represent humanity. In Chinese culture, the lotus symbolises perfection, and ultimate purity of the heart and mind because it rises untainted and beautiful from the mud. Weiting creates numerous works that feature the lotus in different states to express this lifecycle and the beautiful struggles we experience as we grow.

Eva Cocco

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Ceramic artist, Eva Cocco was born on the beautiful island of Sardinia, Italy where she grew up surrounded by nature and wild things. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Architecture Roma TRE University, a Master’s of Urban Design at Roma TRE University Italy (2007) and Master’s in Landscape Design at The City College of New York (2011). She lives and works in New York City.

“I strongly feel the nature of my island is in me and the sea I grew up with is always, sometimes even unconsciously, represented in my pieces. My passion for ceramic came early on, when I moved to Sag Harbor where I lived several years, I discovered this life-changing material and practice and it grew in me fast and exponentially. Now I am a self-taught sculptor and by far my favorite narrative tool is porcelain.”

Mary Di Iorio

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Born in Itabirito, MG, Brazil, Mary Di Iorio began her life as a plastic artist in the spring of 1969, exhibiting at Galeria do Minas Tenis Clube - Salão Jovem. There followed more exhibitions, collective and individual and travel throughout the country and abroad. Mary Di Iorio collaborated in the formation of the Faculty of Arts, Federal University of Uberlândia - MG, where she was a teacher and Chair of the Department. She is the author of the book "Ceramics in Brazil: Systematization Bibliographic." and has been published in critical catalogs, magazines, books, newspapers etc.

Pirkko Mäkelä-Haapalinna

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From Finland, Pirkko Mäkelä-Haapalinna is a visual artist living and working in Lapland. Originally, she was educated as a ceramicist but nowadays she works mainly as a painter. Her artwork consists mainly of pastel paintings, but also acrylic and installations. Her work has been sponsored by grants from the Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Regional Office Lapland and the Finnish Cultural Foundation, Lapland.

In 2016 Pirkko Mäkelä-Haapalinna was invited as the Guest of Honor in the Salon International du Pastel La Rochelle by Société des Pastellistes de France. She has been selected three times (2012, 2015, 2017) to the Pastel Society of America’s (PSA) juried Annual Exhibition, Enduring Brilliance!, in National Arts Club Gallery, New York. All times she has also been awarded and thus she was recognized as a Master Pastellist by PSA in Fall 2017.

Pirkko Mäkelä-Haapalinna has had several solo exhibitions in Finland during last five years and participated in group exhibitions also abroad. She has works in the collections of Rovaniemi City and her painting was published in the book Art Journey Abstract Painting, published by North Light Shop and edited by Jamie Markle. Pirkko is a Signature Member of PSA, member of Finnish Painters’ Union and a member of the Board of Artists’ Association of Lapland.