Artist statement:

Nature is my greatest source of inspiration; from there I take organic shapes and form them in clay. I also like people, observing them and their personalities. I am fascinated by the relationship between internal and external reality; that dualism between the outside and the inside, the contents and the form. The "Insides" opus was based on me asking the question: What is "inside" - what can be found within the shining armour? Is there only hollow space, or is there some kind of intriguing contents waiting to be discovered? I break the armour, rush in and present that which is usually unseen to the eye.  In the opus "Opening the Whiteness" and “Leafing”, I added raw worsted wool to the clay. This object is my experience of reality… this is meant as a metaphor of our lives.  Behind the hard armour in which we place ourselves to separate ourselves from the outside world, there must exist some kind of internal warmth and softness, which I attempt to describe using the combination of the two materials - layers the hard, cold ceramic and the soft, warm wool. Lately, in my sculptures I have also been adding the hollow- to describe feeling of absence.

Born in Zagreb/ Croatia, 1967

She began to study ceramics in 1997 and to date she has attended a number of specialized workshops and seminars for ceramic, porcelain and glass run by local and foreign experts, artists and professors.  

She has realized ten solo exhibitions, participated in several international art symposiums, sixty group exhibitions and numerous international juried exhibitions abroad. Works by Danijela Pičuljan are to be found in the collections of the Museums and in private collections at home and abroad.  She was awarded in ULUPUH best project and exhibition for a year 2018  Mare Modul - ceramic marine habitats.–  project for creation of habitats in the submarine, for the purpose of restoration and enrichment of marine flora and fauna. In 2017 she won Special Award 5th International Triennial of Silicate Arts in Kecskemet, Hungary.

Danijela was an Artist-In-Residence in Hungary, China and Spain. She is one of the founders of the Kerameikon, the Croatian Ceramics Association (a member of IAC).  

Danijela Pičuljan has been a member of International Academy of Ceramic (IAC )/ Geneve, Croatian Freelance Artists Association (HZSU) since 2004 and a member of Croatian Association of Artists of Applied Arts (ULUPUH) since 2002  where is since 2014  president of  the Section for Ceramics, Porcelain and Glass.