Joana Carina was born on November 8, 1981, in Lisbon, where she lived until the age of 30. She is an artist who doesn’t work with ceramics, but with a material known as “cold porcelain” or “bisquit” which, having the same malleable properties as clay, doesn’t need to be fired. Joana Carina studied “Analog Photography” at the António Arroio school in Lisbon. In 2012 she became unemployed and it was then that she began to dedicate herself to making “biscuit” pieces and set up her workshop, where her expressive, cheerful and colorful Marias were born. The artist uses acrylic paints, almost all in warm colors. Joana Carina applies various motifs – cats, flowers, fish – to a gourd (the fruit of the cabaceira tree) and creates countless characters with these fantasies, all of which are called Maria. No two pieces are the same, not least because the natural shape of the gourd determines how the character is realized and what it looks like. We are presented with countless Marias: with cats, ready for a picnic, in the role of mother, friend of the tile, fan of the sea, the woods, poppies, dreams… There are also cribs – in which the main characters are accompanied by a variety of animals – Saint Anthony and other national saints, as well as clowns. Joana Carina creates her pieces in her studio (Beco da Saudade), at home and sells her creations in various cities, at craft fairs and online.