Prof. Helena Elias (coordinator)
(Portugal)
Professor, research artist, she is part of an Erasmus generation, who studied and lived in cities like Lisbon, Aberdeen and Barcelona and attended several Faculties of Fine Arts, obtaining academic degrees in different systems of education and investigation in Arts (1999, 2000, 2007 ). She recognized the need to think about the place of artistic research in academia. Artistic practice, teaching, research are the activities that shape their scientific-artistic performance, fed simultaneously by the action of practice and theoretical reflection. Coordinates the line of investigation. Research in the making of arts and sciences in VICARTE.
Marika Brandt
(Finland)
I was born in Finland. I lived in Denmark since 2002, until my move to Portugal in November 2018. I am currently doing my masters studies in Glass and Ceramic art & science and I work mainly with glass, ceramic and photography.
My first introduction to glass was in 1999 when I studied at Häme Polytechnic School in Finland. During three years I studied the traditional Scandinavian style of glassblowing while working and living in the Nuutajärvi Glass Village. In 2005 I continued my studies at the Glass and Ceramics school in Bornholm, Denmark After my studies on Bornholm I have been working as a glassblower/glassblowing assistant in different studios, and as a teaching assistant for different artists.
My interest in photography started when I was doing my internship in USA in 2007. I studied in a local evening school in Burlington, VT and learned the basics in the darkroom. I started my studies at Copenhagen film- and photography school in 2010.
In 2016 I received a grant from Arts Promotion Centre Finland and Danish Arts Foundation, which enabled me to take part on an intensive 8-week glassblowing course ‘Cane Ladder’ at Penland School of Crafts (NC, USA). During my time in Penland I was able to concentrate on my work in glass, but I also got introduced to ceramics, which I continued to work with since then.
Cátia Moura
(Portugal)
From 2013 until 2016 attended the bachelor’s degree in Equipment Design in the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon and in 2016, enrolled in a specialization in Furniture Design of Lisbon School of Design. In 2019, started the master in Glass and Ceramic Art and Science, in the Faculty of Science and Technology of Nova University of Lisbon.
Lola Sementsova
(Russia)
Graduated from Moscow State University, Faculty of Psychology, with particular interest in clinical psychology and Art-therapy. Using clay in psychotherapy fascinated me by its potential as an expressive media and continued in experimenting with ceramics, which resulted in opening a personal studio and further self education.
Participated in various ceramic workshops in Russia, Indonesia, Thailand and India and got inspired with Asian traditional craft. Took part in a few contemporary ceramics group exhibitions in 2018 and 2019 (Moscow, Russia).
In 2019 entered masters program in Ceramics & Glass Art and Science (Lisbon, Portugal).
Current work is dedicated to vanishing cultural heritage, contemporary mythology and organic materials.
Joana Garcia e Costa
(Country)
Joana completed secondary education at Emídio Navarro school, in Visual Arts. Then, she applied and completed the degree in Sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts. Currently she is concluding the first year of Master’s Degree at the Faculty of Science and Technology in Art and Science of Glass and Ceramics course (Vicarte). Was born in March 1998 in Lisbon, being a resident of Almada, belonging to the district of Setúbal. In the future, she intends to continue to develop her skills and techniques in pottery and glass in order to be able to create her own artistic language in pottery and glass.