Elysia Athanatos is a Cypriot artist who lives and works between Cyprus and Italy. She was born in Ascot in 1981 and raised in Cyprus. She studied Fine Arts in London, completing a Foundation Course at Chelsea College of Arts, London, and a BA in Applied Arts at Middlesex University, London, before continuing her education in Italy. She graduated in Sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts, Florence, 2008. In 2009 she received a scholarship at Sanbao International Artists Residency, Jingdezhen, where she encountered porcelain and the alchemical processes of ceramics. Returning to Italy, she specialized through a two-year program at the Ballardini Institute, Faenza. In 2011, as part of her thesis, she produced seven monumental vitreous china horses with access to the industrial facilities of SACMI, Imola, and presented her thesis exhibition at the International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza. In 2012 she presented Release at the Human Rights Nights Festival, Cineteca di Bologna, Bologna. In 2019 she discovered wood firing at Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center, Skælskør, leading to her selection for the Kohila International Wood Firing Symposium, Kohila, 2021, and KUU International Wood Firing, Finland, 2023. She received the Lions Club Award at the 62nd Faenza Prize, Faenza, 2023, and the Award of Excellence at the 1st Larnaca Biennale, Larnaca, 2018.
