"My work is the embodiment of the desire to bring light into my life and the lives of people who order my products. It is the desire to be happy, no matter the situation. It is my means of communication with the environment. An opportunity to convey my love, faith in the future and wishes for well-being. This is my prayer for Ukraine.»
This is the poetic inspiration that ceramic artist Dina Yefremova, founder of the authentic brand United Ceramics, puts into her work. The artist has her own style of products, which incorporates the ability to work with clay and the courage to experiment.
She spoke frankly to It's Craft about her talent, professed by her belief in herself, and the art nurtured by Ukrainian traditions.
Creativity as salvation
Dina Efremova's "clay" story goes back more than seven years. An economist by degree and a bank employee, she felt cramped among the numbers and reports. She lacked artistry and materialization of her work. She wanted to create, not plan.
The artist began her creative search with drawing courses at an art studio. She especially liked working on still lifes. Dina loved to paint pots, jugs, and vases. She could spend hours looking at their shapes, studying how light touches the objects. That's how she fell in love with ceramics. And where there is love, there is inspiration. The artist wanted to create the things she painted with her own hands.
Dina began to learn pottery a little bit. But she didn't decide to quit her job at the bank to change her career immediately. She was prompted by a chance.
"Creativity is my salvation. All these years, it has supported me in psychologically difficult moments," the ceramist admits. "I took up my work at the time of the greatest life shock, when I learned that my youngest son, who was not yet born, had a serious illness. I needed to immerse my thoughts in something bright and hopeful. I began to greedily invent my future products."
Working with clay, Dina realized that she was not interested in making traditional pots. She wanted something more modern, more interior. From the very beginning, the craftswoman knew that she would create lamps.
"I made the first items in between my son's surgeries, resuscitations, and examinations. To avoid thinking about my grief, I thought about lamps and imagined my ceramic collections."
Dina Yefremova's husband approved and supported his wife's business. He helped buy materials, sent goods, and even advised on how to improve the range of products. Now the ceramicist does everything herself.
Ceramics with a southern flavor
The studio of the United Ceramics brand is located in the village of Hatne, Kyiv region. The artist set it up in the garage of her own house. Dina herself is originally from the Crimea. That's probably why, she says, her ceramics have a taste of the south.
After the large-scale invasion, the Yefremovs stayed in Hatne for a week. But when the stores started having problems with food, the whole family went to Lviv. It took them almost two days to get there, traveling in a crowded car with their grandparents and two children, one of whom has a disability.
"I remember taking pictures of the house as a souvenir, because we didn't know if we would return. I was also saying goodbye to the studio and all the unfinished works," Dina says. It hurts, it's hard to remember."
Both the house and the unfinished products were waiting for her - she returned home, finished the "pre-war" lamps, and began to organize her business. Now Dina is setting up the processes of purchasing and shipping goods, testing new materials, and expanding the range of stores for cooperation. She plans to find a partner to increase production.
"'United Ceramics' is a brand of associations, emotions and impressions. The artist works mainly in the slab building technique. She rolls out clay into layers and constructs products from them using ready-made molds.
"If we talk about the social mission, it is primarily to popularize Ukrainian producers and Ukrainian artists in Ukraine and around the world. The creation and purchase of Ukrainian-made goods is an asset of Ukrainian identity and support for the country's economy. Like many other entrepreneurs, I donate 10 percent of the profit from each product to help the Armed Forces or other charities," says Dina, proving that artists not only create art for the country, but also create the country for art.
