Stella Arion is a London-based sculptor whose work operates at the intersection of ceramics, post-industrial abstraction, and spatial installation. Her practice examines the behaviour of form under pressure - where organic motion encounters geological, industrial, or architectural constraint. Working with clay as a structural medium, she creates sculptural bodies that behave like fragments, residues, or architectural tensions, each holding movement in suspension and articulating the moment where force meets resistance. Her work engages directly with the built environment, activating light, shadow, and spatial geometry to generate conditions of tension and spatial resonance.
Arion studied at the Royal College of Art (MA Ceramics & Glass), where she received the Charlotte Fraser Award. Her practice has been shaped through transdisciplinary research and immersive fieldwork, including time in the Atacama Desert and the Bolivian Amazon, as well as through deep engagement with architectural and post-industrial contexts. She has exhibited across the UK and Europe, and her work has been recognised through awards, international residencies, and curatorial selections that highlight emerging sculptural voices within contemporary ceramics and spatial practice.
EDUCATION
2021 - 2023 MA Ceramics and Glass | Royal College of Art | London | UK
2010 - 2012 MA Fashion Media Production | London College of Fashion | London | UK
2007 - 2009 Postgraduate Diploma History of fashion | Lomonosov Moscow State University | Moscow |Russia
2005 - 2007 MA Image Making | Moscow State University | Moscow | Russia
1994 - 1998 BA Finance and Credit | Rostov State Economic University | Russia
AWARDS
2026 Charlotte Fraser Ceramics & Glass Award | Finalist | London | UK
2022 The Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers Award | 2nd Prize | London | UK
2022 The Charlotte Fraser Award | 1st Prize | London | UK
2022 QEST scholarship London | Finalist | London | UK
RESIDENCIES
2026 The Crypt Gallery residency | London | UK
2024 Wild nature walking residency research trip | Highlands and Amazon rainforest | Bolivia
2023 La Wayaka Current residency | Atacama desert | Chile
2021 The Guldagergaard International Ceramics Research Centre | Denmark
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 Unheld | Wells Art Contemporary | Wells Cathedral | UK
2026 Hylē: a language without words | Hypha Studios | London | UK
2026 The Quiet Rupture | Alcova Milano | Milan | Italy
2026 Holt Art Projects | Holt | UK
2025 One Masters Monaco | Monaco Art Week | Monte-Carlo | Monaco
2025 Scout | Galleri Heike Arndt DK Kettinge | Denmark
2024 Form | CICA Museum | South Korea
2024 Bursting into flame | Shtager&Shch Gallery | London | UK
2024 ArtGemeniPrize | London Lighthouse Gallery | London | UK
2024 Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Summer show | RBSA Gallery | Birmingham | UK
2024 Fresh legs | Galleri Heike Arndt DK - Berlin | Berlin | Germany
2024 Art spring Berlin | Berlin | Germany
2024 In the emancipation of self | D Contemporary | London | UK
2024 Fraction | Fox Yard Studio | Stowmarket | UK
2024 Waves | The Factory | London | UK
2024 Hidden desires | Willesden Gallery | London | UK
2024 Hubbub | Bermondsey Project Space | London | UK
2023 Planet rock | London Design Festival | Charles Burnand Gallery | London | UK
2023 RCA graduation show | The Truman Brewery | London | UK
2022 WIP show | Royal College of Art | London | UK
2022 Preface | Pumphouse Gallery | London | UK
TEACHING | MENTORING
2026 - 2027 | Artist Mentor | British Ceramics Biennial
2023 - present | Private Artist Mentor
2022 - present | Curator and Art Tutor | Get Art Fit International School for Ceramic Artists
2012 - 2019 | Lecturer | University of the Arts London