Ilana Fonariov is a self-taught potter living and working on Galiano Island, BC. Ilana is a lover of clay and its malleability; she is drawn to black clay most of all, for its drama and starkness, and for the challenge of finding ways to soften it.Ilana developed her art through the ceramics program at the Selkirk School of Arts in the fall of 2022, after receiving the Micki MacKenzie Bursary Award. She became skilled in the art of using the entirety of the clay when crafting cylinders, rather than trimming, keeping the integrity of form and lightness of vessel in balance when crafting her pieces.Her work is evocative of natural tone and movement, inspired by the colours and textures of rock surfaces and autumnal shades, as well as integrating parts of her own identity in the design. Apart from cylinders, she has done extensive study and practice with glazing techniques, hand- and slab-building.