I’m Yana. I was born in Ukraine, went to art school in Nefteyugansk, Siberia, and have lived in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv and New York. Today my family and I are based in Hoboken, New Jersey, where I make my ceramics and paintings.

I’ve always been drawn to things made by hand — objects that carry the warmth of the person who created them.

When I was a child, I watched my father carve faces from wood and paint at the kitchen table. Those moments shaped the way I see the world. Art wasn’t something distant or formal — it was part of everyday life, something alive, something human.

Today I work with clay and paint for the same reason: I love the quiet conversation between hands and material. Each piece I make is a continuation of that early memory — a tribute to craftsmanship, patience, and the beauty of imperfect, handmade things.

I’ve drawn all my life, but I never kept any of it. We moved so often that almost nothing survived — I have very little left from those earlier years.

Back in Ukraine our home was full of things I had made myself — pieces we used every day. When we found ourselves in the United States, I began again from the very beginning: first mugs, then plates, bowls and vases for our new home, and my drawings on the walls.

I have been working with clay for more than seven years now. Our own shelves are full at last, and I would like to share that warmth with others.