Here, porcelain becomes a canvas for embroidery, much like composing a living landscape.

This workshop invites participants to imagine a unique tapestry made of hand-shaped beads inspired by the world. Assembled on a canvas and connected by metal wire, these beads interact and overlap to form a dense composition, rich in relief and texture. Gradually, the whole evokes an abstract living wall, both organic and sculptural.

This project brings together the principles of ceramics and textiles, exploring the concepts of modules, assembly, and surface composition.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Understand porcelain and its interaction with fibrous substrates
• Explore techniques for modeling miniature elements and bead tapestry
• Create organic reliefs in porcelain and terracotta
• Develop a sensitive and experimental approach to sculpture at the intersection of two mediums: ceramics and textiles
• Design a unique piece combining porcelain and a flexible substrate

Inspired by the forms of living things, this workshop focuses on creating a tapestry made from hand-shaped porcelain beads.

Seeds, succulent leaves, conifer needles: the plant world becomes the source of a vocabulary of forms that each bead translates in a sensitive way. After firing at 1260 °C, the porcelain vitrifies and takes on a matte, soft, and mineral-like appearance.

Fixed onto a tapestry canvas and assembled with metal wire, these beads form a dense, vibrant, three-dimensional surface, evoking the richness of a living wall.

This experimental project creates a dialogue between ceramics and textile arts, blending modeling, embroidery, and surface construction.

Process

Day 1

Morning

• Exploration of porcelain bead shapes based on visual references of tree seeds and wild plants

Afternoon

• Continuation of formal research on porcelain beads
• Introduction to and first attempts at modeling the beads

Day 2

Morning

• Development of porcelain bead modeling

Afternoon

• Preparation and loading of the kiln
• Starting the first firing
• Continuation of bead modeling

Day 3

Morning

• Continuing to shape the porcelain beads

Afternoon

• Continuation of shaping and refining the forms

Day 4

Morning

• Unloading the fired pieces
• Preparation and start of a second firing
• Assembling porcelain beads onto tapestry canvas using metal wire

Afternoon

• Continuing the assembly on canvas and constructing the relief surface

Day 5

Morning

• Unloading the fired pieces
• Finalizing the assembly of the beads on the canvas
• Cutting and adjusting the final piece, defining the edges, and attaching the lining

Katia Terpigoreva

Born in Moscow, Katia Terpigoreva began her career in journalism, working for nearly twenty years in the fields of design, architecture, and contemporary art. At age 35, she made a radical career shift and chose to devote herself to visual arts. After a stay in Italy, she settled in Aveyron, where she has lived and worked since 2010.

A self-taught artisan and artist, Katia has developed a free, intuitive, and organic practice outside of academic frameworks. Her approach explores the sensory qualities of various materials—porcelain, stoneware, wool, fabric, cement, charred wood, and more—which she assembles, transforms, or repurposes. She favors slow, repetitive gestures, akin to traditional craftsmanship, and allows natural processes (drying, firing, fiber tension, etc.) to influence the final form of her works.

Her creations lie at the intersection of the organic and the inorganic. Their aesthetic draws inspiration from minimalism, Italian anti-design, Brutalist architecture, and nature itself.

A member of the Homo Faber Guide, selected by the Michelangelo Foundation for her commitment to European artisanal excellence, Katia Terpigoreva embodies a renewal of contemporary creation rooted in gesture, material, and the passage of time.

Alongside her artistic practice, she regularly collaborates with the Atelier Blanc in Villefranche-de-Rouergue, where she has presented several installations, including the remarkable *Sans souci*, composed of hundreds of porcelain flowers suspended in the art center’s gardens.

“I am a girl without roots,” she confides. Cosmopolitan and free-spirited, she creates a poetic and socially engaged body of work, driven by a simple yet essential desire: to make the world more beautiful.

• Classroom, multipurpose room, workshops with professional equipment
• Supply of materials
• Individual and collaborative work
• Workshop-based work
• Active participation and experimentation by participants are encouraged

• Group and personalized progress tracking, regular updates
• Self-assessment of technical skills
• Group presentation
• Attendance sheet for each half-day
• Certificate of completion issued by Campus MaNa