Athena Kontonikolaki Ceramics

Athena is a ceramic artist whose practice explores the expressive tension between function and abstraction. Her work navigates the space where utilitarian forms meet sculptural presence, inviting a dialogue between the everyday and the poetic. Grounded in a hands-on approach, she works across hand-building, wheel-throwing, glaze development,  and firing experimentation. Embracing the trial-and-error nature intrinsic to ceramics, Athena engages with form, surface, and concept through iterative play.

Her journey into ceramics began during a period of personal transition, when motherhood offered a new rhythm to her life and space for creative exploration. Working with clay quickly evolved into a serious and sustained artistic pursuit. Drawn to its tactile immediacy and transformative nature, Athena sees clay as a unique language to communicate beyond words.

In the past four years, Athena has participated in exhibitions in Greece and the UK, presenting work that reflects her evolving exploration of ceramic form and process.

Athena originally studied Economics and Politics at the University of Reading, later completing a Master’s in Design Studies at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. Her professional background spans PR and communications across the visual arts, design, architecture, and lifestyle - experience that has shaped her sensitivity to visual culture and material expression.

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She currently lives and works in Athens, Greece.