Janina Myronova is known for creating vibrant and prodigious ceramic sculptures. Her work features playful characters that portray elements of communal life. The figures are charged with emotion, amplified by the saturated colors which burnish their bodies and clothing.

Born and raised in the Ukraine and now based in Philadelphia, Janina builds forms reminiscent of Dymkova toys, traditional Slavic clay figurines that depict animals, peasants, and festive rituals. She writes, “My characters display a specific, distorted body perspective. The forms are a bit clunky, chubby, anatomically misshapen, marked with accents which double the characters or hybridize their silhouettes.” Each sculpture represents a different personality. She describes them as “graphic novels” featuring her favorite motifs: parent and child, partners, and pets.”

It is Janina’s use of scale and surface treatment that pushes her practice beyond the boundaries of humble folk art. Though her work is highly decorated, the raw, grainy texture of the clay hints at an unseen sorrow or grit within each character and belies the glossy veneer commonly associated with glazed ceramics. Their garments also function as contoured canvases to depict narrative scenes onto the bodies themselves. By layering pictorial backstories onto her characters, Janina uses whimsy and humor to explore the basic human emotions of wonder, anger, fear and joy. 

Visit: The Clay Studio | Janina Myronova
         @janinamyronova