01. Concept
We are accustomed to seeing porcelain figurines depicting elegant ladies with slim waists, classic facial features, and restrained gestures. For centuries, porcelain has served as a material for embodying idealized beauty, but what happens if we place a completely different character into this fragile and noble medium?
«Imperfect Grace»—an attempt to rethink the conventional image of porcelain sculpture. The main subject is a full-figured woman in a swimsuit, frozen in a moment of joyful motion. She is not posing or trying to appear beautiful; she is simply enjoying the moment.The project consciously departs from the academic canons of the human figure. Here, beauty resides not in proportion or symmetry, but in vitality, sincerity, and freedom of self-expression. The body becomes not an object of contemplation, but a vessel for emotion.
02. Image and Artistic Solution
The prototype was a composite character representing resort vacation—a woman easily pictured on the beach in Anapa. She is energetic, spontaneous, and completely unselfconscious about her physicality.Her pose simultaneously evokes classical sculpture, a sporty figure, and a casual moment from a family vacation. The arm raised overhead holding a ball, the bent leg, and the open smile create a feeling of motion caught at its peak.The deliberate expressiveness of the forms plays a crucial role. Rounded shapes, bodily folds, facial expressions, and characteristic gestures are not hidden; instead, they form the basis of the plastic language.
03. From Clay to Porcelain
The first stage of the work involved creating a plasticine prototype. Sculpting by hand allowed for the free exploration of silhouette, experimentation with proportions, and the gradual definition of the character’s essence. At this stage, the primary goal was not anatomical accuracy but the expressiveness of the image. The plasticine allowed for the retention of vibrant, slightly uneven surfaces that emphasize the human physicality. The next stage is adapting the model to porcelain. When translating the sculpture into a different medium, it is vital to preserve its emotional quality while simultaneously considering technological limitations—structural features, wall thickness, shrinkage, and the stability of the form.
04. Material as Part of the Idea
Traditionally, porcelain is associated with purity, delicacy, fragility, and decorative refinement. Contrasting these qualities, the voluminous, lifelike, and unconventional form of the heroine—a departure from typical porcelain plasticity—acquires a distinct expressiveness.
The intention is to retain the natural, light hue of the porcelain so that the viewer’s focus remains on the silhouette, movement, and expression. The decoration must remain minimal and should not compete with the plasticity of the form.
Thus, porcelain transcends being merely a material of construction; it becomes an active participant in the artistic statement.
On the left of the image, the process of creating a silicone mold based on a sculpture clay prototype is shown.
05. Future Development
In the long term, this small statuette could become the first piece in a series dedicated to people experiencing moments of pure joy and relaxation. The heroes of the collection could be ordinary beachgoers: people sunbathing, swimming, playing ball, or simply relaxing—individuals of varying shapes, ages, and personalities. They will be unified by a core principle—reinterpreting classical sculptural forms through the lens of everyday life. To the left is a recently cast figurine using the slip casting method, which dried for about two days in the air after casting before being sent for its initial firing in the kiln.
06. Result after glazing and the second firing
07. Characteristics
The cover generation (figure in an interior) was created using ChatGPT
