ALEKSANDRA KRASNOPOLSKA

Living in the seaside city of Odessa in Ukraine, Aleksandra Krasnopolska often visits the beach to watch the water, the birds, and the clouds. These experiences, along with the antique furniture and gilded mirrors she encounters on her travels, inform her sculptures and ceramics. "Nature is the best painter and sculptor; I will learn from it all my life," she says.

Krasnopolska worked as an architect and interior designer for five years before turning to sculpture. When she picked up clay for the first time, she fell in love with the material. "The most amazing thing is how easy and beautiful I did it the first time, how pleasant and facile the clay was," she says. "It was love at first touch!"

Krasnopolska's sculptures are biomorphic, seeming to slide and shift as you walk around them. Krasnopolska's work evokes the beautiful female form, as well as the waves of the Black Seas, where Krasnopolska draws so much of her inspiration. The sculptures are made using a process that the artist refers to as "intuitive modeling." Every piece is a form of meditation.