Andrii Kyrychenko

Born in 1982 in Kyiv, Andrii Kyrychenko defines himself above all as a potter. A telecommunications engineer by training, he has been practicing ceramics since 2004 in his workshop in Kyiv and has exhibited since 2006 in Ukraine, then abroad, such as in Spain, Switzerland, South Korea and China. In 2022, he was forced to leave Kyiv and found refuge in France.

Andrii Kyrychenko plays with the properties of clay to give his creations the shape of a fruit or a shell. His work focuses on the capacity of art to fix life. According to him, every fruit has a heart, a content. The intertwining of the fibers that it creates creates an outer covering that protects the seed, the one that gives life to the fruit. The idea of connecting the interior and exterior structure of the object allows it an almost infinite creative potential.

Andrii Kyrychenko tries not to interfere with the material to let it realize itself. The properties of clay are so unique in his eyes that, in his approach, to isolate it would be to destroy it. Clay is for him a co-author. For his textures, he prefers the use of chamotte mass, a ductile clay with a light sand color after cooking. He finishes the creative process with soda slips and glazes. Almost all of his works feature elements of pottery, including figurative artwork.

He participates in numerous residencies and exhibitions, in Ukraine and abroad, such as at AIR Vallauris (2022), the “Révélations" exhibition at the Grand Palais Ephemere de Paris (2022), the international exhibition “MediTERRAneo" in Italy (2022) and the International Ceramic Biennale in South Korea (2019). His work was rewarded in 2017 at the “Blanc de Chine" Porcelain Biennale in Beijing and in 2022 at the “ACQUA" exhibition at the Grottaglie Ceramic Museum in Italy. Since 2019, he has been a member of the International Academy of Ceramics in Geneva.