About the studio

We are Anna and Ruslana, two artists, and HATKA is our shared creative collaboration. Our journey began with exploring Ukrainian culture and traditions — our ceramics reflect our impressions, our fascination with a shared cultural heritage and the traditions that shaped it. It was the MALANKA series that marked the beginning of our creative journey together.

In 2022, we came together to create our first MALANKA series, and since then we have grown into two separate studios — one in Kyiv, one in Khmelnytskyi — while continuing to collaborate fruitfully under the HATKA project. Over the past year, we have become bolder in expressing ourselves as individual artists, while remaining within our shared artistic vision. Some of our works are quite literally made with four hands — a rare phenomenon among artists, and one of the most unique things about us.

We also want to be clear — we are not a brand with a team behind us. Absolutely everything, from creating and photographing to running our social media and packing every order — we do ourselves. This way of working has its challenges, but the beauty of it is that we are in direct, personal contact with you, our audience. Which sometimes even grows into friendship ;)

Every piece begins with an idea — and our inspiration can come from deliberate research just as easily as from a fleeting impression, a moment, a personal experience of pure joy, a memory, or a reaction to the world around us. We then discuss the idea together, shaping it into something that can exist in the real world — the moment where we align most naturally. The vast majority of our work is created through hand-building and hand-painting; occasionally we turn to fellow potters and commission thrown vases and pitchers for us to paint. After that comes the gold and luster detailing — and three high-temperature firings!

Ceramics do not always work out on the first try. It involves complex chemical and physical processes, and sometimes we have to make something two, three, or more times before we get what we are after. Ceramics teaches patience! But opening the kiln after the final firing and seeing the finished works come to life — that never gets old. We are truly happy in what we do.