Sofia Sotiropoulou

Material Matters

Matter within matter, in interaction. A challenge!

Matter emerging from within the body of the clay, at times merging with it. Different earths from Serifos, sometimes blended together, at other times layered.

Tall and poised, the vessel stands proud. It transforms into organic forms—a container that holds, encloses, carries within.

Here and there, it extends into fragments of lace: a keepsake evoking a sense of familiarity, family, and security. A continuation of the vessel’s rim. It recalls an earlier state of the clay, before the kiln—softness, lightness.

They coexist and converse. Perhaps, they even love one another.

Sofia Sotiropoulou studied Interior Architecture at VAKALO Art & Design College in Athens (2002–2004) and continued her studies at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Spain, where she obtained a postgraduate degree in Interior Architecture (2004–2008).

Her engagement with ceramics began in 2012 in Uruguay, at the Piriápolis Cultural Centre in Maldonado. Upon returning to Greece, she continued her training in a range of ceramic techniques and approaches, including mould-making, wheel throwing, ceramic technology and hand-building. From 2016 to 2018, she studied at the Iridanos School of Ceramics in Kerameikos, Athens, under Menandros Papadopoulos, Nikos Sklavenitis and Yiannis Liakos.

For Sofia, clay is a medium through which ideas acquire material and three-dimensional form. The direct relationship with the material, and the ability to create objects with volume, weight and a tangible physical presence, lie at the core of her artistic practice. Ceramics is, for her, both a field of continuous exploration and an ongoing creative challenge.

Since February 2018, she has run her own ceramics studio, fulfilling a lifelong dream and creating a space dedicated to daily practice, research and experimentation with clay.

Ceramic Studies

2012–2013 — Ceramics, Piriápolis Cultural Centre, Maldonado, Uruguay
2013–2015 — Ceramics & mould-making, Terra Nigra, Christos Vlioras, Athens
2015–2016 — Ceramics & wheel throwing, Vasiliki Charolidi, Neo Irakleio, Athens
2016–2018 — Ceramics, wheel throwing, ceramic technology & hand-building, Menandros Papadopoulos, Nikos Sklavenitis, Giannis Liakos, Iridanos School of Ceramics, Kerameikos, Athens

Selected Exhibitions

2017 — Iridanos Kerameon Potamos, student group exhibition, Association of Greek Archaeologists, Athens
2020 — 58th & 60th Panhellenic Ceramic Art Competition, Marousi
2021–2025 — Greek Ceramix Contemporary & MON COIN Studio, Ceramic Art Exhibitions, Athens
2022 — ANAMESA, Appaloosa, Ermoupoli, Syros
2023 — Do Nothing, MYRO Gallery, Contemporary Art Gallery
2024 — Please Disturb Me, curated by Giannis Kolokotronis, Kantza
2026 — Invisible Seams, group exhibition, Imagine Visual Arts, Paiania, curated by Elani Gatsa

Seminars & Workshops

2012 — Raku & paper kiln, Piriápolis Cultural Centre, Maldonado, Uruguay
2015 — Mediterranean kiln, Terra Nigra & 18 Ano, Plato's Academy, Athens
2017 — Model-making, Stellios Laskaris, Iridanos, Athens
2017 — Mediterranean kiln, Iridanos, Athens
2018 — Rafa Pérez, Kerameon Ichni, Patras
2019 — Terra Sigillata, Sektor 30, Athens
2019 — Terra Sigillata in Raku, Theodora Chorafa, Aegina
2019 — Single-firing glazes and other techniques, Ilias Christopoulos – Kerameon Ichni, Patras
2019 — Reduction firing in a saggar, Maro Kerasioti, Iridanos School of Ceramics, Athens
2021 — International Ceramics Symposium, Aegina
2022 — Introduction to High-Fire Glazes, Giorgos Vavatsis & Nikos Sklavenitis, Iridanos School of Ceramics, Athens
2023 — Mould-making, Myrto Kollia, Athens
2024 — Ceramic Slips, Giorgos Vavatsis & Nikos Sklavenitis, Iridanos School of Ceramics, Athens