art prize

Daria Kowalewska (1996) is a sculptor artist. Primarily creating ceramic sculptures and installations. She studied at the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw. She received a master's degree for two fields of study (2023).

Daria has participated in exhibitions and workshops associated with Wroclaw. Her work was presented in solo exhibitions "In Silence, I Grow" at Hilleckes Gallery in Berlin (2025), "Beyond Space" at BWA in Wałbrzych (2024), and "Rustling Imagination" Bulvary in Wrocław, as well as others at the NM in Gdańsk and the Rothko Museum. She is a laureate at the OP Young 22 program and the exhibition "Life Takes on a Different Meaning." In 2025, she won the Gold Award at the Latvian Ceramics Biennale. In 2026, she received the "Young Poland" scholarship.

In her works, she addresses themes of material transformation, the forces of nature, destruction, and decay. She focuses on the processes of change occurring in the natural world and their impact on the matter.

@daria_kowalewska

Dominik Adamec (1995) is a Czech intermedia artist based in Berlin. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in 2020 and continued his studies at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. Dominik is the recipient of the Jindřich Chalupecký Award for 2025.

His conceptual work draws on knowledge from both natural and social sciences. He focuses primarily on evolutionary philosophy, ecology, and the complex interaction of man with the surrounding nature. The main method of Adamc's work consists in the deliberate disruption of linguistic categories, established taxonomies, and social phenomena.

His work can be understood as a rebus or hybrid, characterized by ambiguity leading to movement, reflection, and reassessment of established perceptual habits. His work has been widely presented in institutional contexts in Czech and internationally, including exhibitions at the National Gallery in Prague or the Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau in Dresden.

@adamec_dominik

Ioulia Chante (1991) is a Greek architect and ceramicist based in Malta and the founder of Babau Ceramics. She holds a Master of Architecture from Democritus University of Thrace, Greece (2017), and has worked as a design assistant and maker during her studies. In 2018, she relocated to Malta, where her experience in the construction sector deepened her interest in material practicality, local craftsmanship, and built heritage.

Ioulia's ceramic practice began in 2019 with wheel-throwing courses at Space for Clay, followed by an expanded focus on sculptural and handbuilding techniques from 2020 onwards. Between 2023 and 2025, she dedicated herself fully to her work as a ceramicist. In 2023, she exhibited for the first time at the Mara Show with Marie Gallery 5 and Il-Lokal. In 2024, she presented her first solo exhibition, What’s Bugging You?, at MSA, and has since participated in group exhibitions, including Clay Craft Concept at MSA and Small Bones of Courage at Spazju Kreattiv.

Her multidisciplinary background informs a practice rooted in material exploration, craftsmanship, and emotional storytelling. Influenced by architecture, structure, and scenography, her work moves between simple forms and intricate miniature sculptures, often combined to create intimate domestic objects and artistic pieces that reflect on the human condition and contemporary societal pathologies, drawing inspiration from the Mediterranean heritage.

@babau_ceramics

Jules Bouteleux (1985) graduated from the École des Beaux-Arts de Nantes in 2009. He subsequently moved to Brussels, where he developed his artistic practice alongside a career in film production design. In 2013, as part of a professionally oriented postgraduate programme, he coordinated and managed the Fieldwork Marfa artist residency in Texas. Upon returning to Brussels, his search for a material through which to further develop his sculptural practice led him first to ceramics and then to porcelain.

His constructions draw inspiration from agricultural, domestic and industrial structures that are often concealed or forgotten, exploring peripheral landscapes situated at the intersection of urban and rural environments. His work in film production design also informs his particular attention to sets, structures and their underlying environments.

His work has notably been the subject of two solo exhibitions: La vie sur les pentes du Vésuve, presented at La Confection Idéale as part of the Watch This Space 9 biennial in 2017, and Un maillet bien employé, at Le Collège in Crest in 2021. He has also participated in several group exhibitions in Brussels, including at the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, LaVallée and MAGA. More recently, his work was presented at C14 Paris and Galerie Terra Viva in 2024. Since 2019, he has lived and worked in the Drôme region, where he continues his practice as part of the collective studio Batterie, at the foot of the Vercors.

@jules_bouteleux

Sojeong You (1996) is a visual artist and sculptor based in Höhr-Grenzhausen, Germany. Working with traditional ceramics and digital fabrication, she explores how memories and forgotten narratives take physical form.

Her practice builds on what she calls digital archaeology. Beginning with personal photo archives, she reinterprets digitized images through chemical blurring as a physical response to digital weightlessness. She then translates these two-dimensional memories into 3D ceramic prints, intentionally exposing internal infill patterns such as gyroid or line structures to represent the unconscious mechanics of memory. Applying this approach to spatial sites and historical traces, she converts photographic data into fragile layered structures using stoneware and porcelain.

Based in a region with a long ceramic tradition, she uses technology as a bridge between digital data and physical material. By accepting the glitches, cracks, and raw layers of the printing process, she turns fleeting memories into tangible physical presences.

@sojeong_you__

How did ceramics come to establish itself in your practice, and what draws you to this material?

I decided ceramics would be my medium during my studies at the Ensad in Limoges. The use of digital tools, as well as my experience with engraving and etching, naturally found their way into my work with clay. I started by applying oxides with a pencil directly onto stoneware, before my drawings gained thickness through the addition of coils, gradually turning into bas-reliefs. These compositions hold signs and motifs tied to my personal history. The scale of the pieces has also gradually evolved toward larger formats.

Glazing is, in my work, a step just as important as modeling. The glaze colors I choose often sit within a metallic range, which allows me to reinforce my intentions in the modeling, particularly when I'm looking to evoke ironwork, door frames or gateways. I also use glazes in shades of seafoam green, blue or turquoise, with a mineral quality, which likewise reinforce my intentions when I depict elements of 19th-century jewelry and accessories, where blue enamels and sapphires enter into dialogue.

At the 2026 edition, you won the jury prize — concretely, what has this recognition changed for you?

I'm very grateful to the jury for this award, but also for the encounters I was able to make during ceramic brussels 2026.

Since then, I've been receiving more opportunities and international visibility, which allows me to create more ambitious pieces, as well as to explore new forms and glazes in enriching new contexts. It's been a great support for my work and my practice.

What are you preparing for your solo show at ceramic brussels 2027?

My solo show will extend my ongoing exploration of bas-relief. The pieces will be created from sampled images and drawings.

I'll be producing a large part of the pieces during a 3-month residency at the CCCA in Yixing (China) this September. This residency was awarded to me at the 3rd edition of ceramic brussels, through Jacques Kaufmann. I intend to develop new glaze nuances there and create a series of bas-reliefs inspired by drawings of jewelry and accessories from the late 19th century.