Olivia Fero

About

Artist Statement

Olivia Fero is a ceramicist-theorist whose practice combines making, writing, and curating. Drawing on Gilbert Ryle's concept of the category mistake, her work identifies the persistent binaries of ceramic discourse- vessel and sculpture, craft and art, function and meaning- as symptoms of the dualistic thinking that separates mind from body, culture from nature, the West from the rest. Through Karen Barad's theory of intra-action, she argues that clay operates as witness rather than passive medium, demonstrating how material practice can challenge these hierarchies while opening space for multiple ontologies to coexist. Her work, influenced by YBA provocations and new materialist theory, uses clay to think through false binaries that limit both ceramic discourse and broader cultural narratives.

So:

My practice-led research (from biting clay to manipulating glaze chemistry) demonstrates how material knowledge challenges textual authority.

I create exhibition frameworks that allow ceramic objects to exist in multiple registers simultaneously - ritual AND commodity, vessel AND sculpture, tradition AND rupture - without forcing them into Western evolutionary narratives.

I work with artists, ceramic artists and object makers to articulate how their work operates as material philosophy.

I create work that makes ceramics uncomfortable, pushing the medium beyond its comfort zones while respecting its unique materiality.

I can translate between Jingdezhen's millennium of wisdom, Barad's theory of intra-action, Ryle's materialist philosophy, and contemporary art theory, helping institutions understand why ceramics matters NOW, not as heritage craft but as critical contemporary practice.

Curriculum Vitae

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Education

  • MA International Ceramic Design, University of Pécs — 2025–2027, expected
  • MA Contextual Design, Design Academy Eindhoven — 2010–2011
  • BA Fine Art & Art History, First Class Hons, Goldsmiths, University of London — 2006–2009
  • Summer Foundation, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL — 2005
  • CELTA, International House, Budapest — 2015–2016
  • Waldorf Teacher Training, Rudolf Steiner House, London — 2012–2014

Awards & Scholarships

  • Pannónia Scholarship, Tempus Public Foundation, Hungary, for residency at MenLo Studios, Jingdezhen — 2026
  • John Lyon's Award, Helena Kennedy Foundation, London — 2006

Masterclasses

  • Crystal Glazes with Ricus Sebes, International Ceramics Studio, Kecskemét — 2025
  • Porcelain A–Z with Ilona Romule, International Ceramics Studio, Kecskemét — 2016
  • Poème Numérique, Baltan Laboratories, Eindhoven — 2010
  • Product Design, Central Saint Martins & NABA, London and Milan — 2009

Selected Exhibitions

  • How Do We Live?, Nádor Galéria, Pécs (curated and exhibited) — 2025
  • Pécsi Kortárs Jótékonysági Aukció (Pécs Contemporary Charity Auction), Ancora Contemporary Gallery, Pécs (auction) — 2025
  • The Feminist Agenda, Womenswork Gallery, New York — 2020
  • Super Organism, Nova Gallery, Eindhoven — 2010
  • Silent City, The Rag Factory, London — 2010
  • Luxury Goods IV: The Role of Art, The Courtyard Theatre, London — 2010
  • Environmental Surrealism, Candid Arts Centre, London — 2009

Conferences, Symposia & Talks

  • Talk: Opening remarks, Disequilibrium, PH21 Gallery, Barcelona, on the occasion of the exhibition's opening — March 2026
  • Provocation: Against Documentation: The Index Cannot Be Archived, Permanence/Impermanence: Collecting & Archiving Contemporary Clay Practices, CREAM, University of Westminster, in partnership with the V&A — June 2026
  • Participant: IAC Congress 2026, International Academy of Ceramics, Jingdezhen — 2026
  • Paper, abstract submitted: The Category Mistake of the Ceramic Archive, The Conventions of the Unconventional: Materiality, Mediality, and the Making of Knowledge Across Cultures, Collegium Helveticum, ETH Zurich, convened by Valentina Sagaria Rossi

Selected Writing

  • Vessel, Sculpture and Other Fictions, Ceramics Now — forthcoming
  • Olivia Fero Objects, Substack: ongoing essays on contemporary ceramic practice and theory — ongoing

Professional Affiliations

  • Juried Member, Artaxis (international peer-reviewed directory of contemporary artists in ceramics and sculpture) — 2025–

Teaching

Selected created and taught seminars, Milestone Institute, Budapest

  • Portfolio Development I & II — 2023
  • Portfolio Development I & II — 2022
  • Colour (Interdisciplinary Arts & Humanities Introduction) — 2021
  • Product Design — 2020
  • Academic Writing — 2019
  • Art Criticism, Contemporary Contexts and Informed Creative Practice — 2018
  • Conflict (Interdisciplinary Arts & Humanities Introduction) — 2018

Experience

  • Visual Artist & Ceramicist — 2019–present
  • Milestone Institute, Budapest — 2018–present
    • Proofreader, Copyeditor & Applied Aesthetics Mentor (2023–present)
    • Mentor & Module Leader, Applied Aesthetics (2019–2023)
    • Head of Lower House / Division Head, Arts & Humanities (2018–2019)
  • Lead Teacher, Budapest School Group, Ada Lovelace / Kassák — 2017–2018
  • Learning Support Teacher, British International School, Budapest — 2017
  • Freelance English Teacher, Business English Specialist, Budapest — 2016–2017
  • Learning Support Teacher / Assistant, Greenwich Steiner School, London — 2012–2014
  • Account Manager, Noesis Design, London — 2011–2012
  • Design Assistant, John Sebastian Studios, Copenhagen — 2010

Studios

  • Fire and Wool, Kovácsszénája — 2022–present
  • Temporary Art Centre, Eindhoven — 2010–2011
  • Bow Arts Trust, London — 2008–2010