“Terra Cognita. River Valley” is crafted from white stoneware, hand-formed and given a subtly porous texture. Multiple layers of pigments are sprayed at different angles, creating a velvety texture reminiscent of lush greenery. High-fired at 1250°C, it is fully water-resistant. Made by hand with premium stoneware sourced locally around Barcelona, the piece is framed in a floating frame with a metal hook for wall mounting. The Terra Cognita series draws from aerial views of isolated landscapes, where quarries, valleys, and salt flats appear equally desolate yet mesmerizing. This series doesn’t create hierarchies but instead presents these environments side by side, capturing the complex relationship between humanity and nature. Reproducing these images in clay brings a tangible closeness to remote terrains, often inaccessible or restricted. Displayed within reach, these works evoke a sense of longing, nostalgia, and unease, quietly asserting, “I was here,” inviting viewers to connect with the unknown.

Maryia Virshych

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Maryia Virshych (b. 1989, Minsk, BY) received her Design Research MA from the Bau Design College in Barcelona, Spain (2016) and a BA in Architecture from Belarusian National Technical University (2012). She completed a Ceramics and Glass program at Escola Massana (Barcelona, ES) in 2024. Maryia has a background in architecture, space and product design, and craft, all of which reflect on her current work. She held positions as a creative at several design and art studios in Barcelona. In 2019, she started her own artistic practice - virmary, working primarily with clay. Maryia received numerous awards, such as the Design Award from the Royal Society of Art and the Residency Award from Domaine de Boisbuchet. In 2024 Maryia was a finalist at the XXXI Competition of Contemporary Ceramics Grottaglie and National Sculpture Prize Maria Belen Morales. She showed her work at various collective exhibitions: Ceramics Museum (Grottaglie. IT), Malta Society of Art (Valetta, MT), CICA Museum (Gimpo, KR), Thrown Gallery (London, UK), Site Brooklyn (New York City, USA), Palais Galerie (Neuchatel, CH), Sala d’Art Jove (Barcelona, ES), Cluster Crafts (London, UK) and others.