Melina Xenaki (b. 1989 in Athens, Greece)

Melina Xenaki is an Athens based ceramics artist. After completing her BA in Ceramics & Glass (UCA, Farnham, 2012) the maker moved to London to complete her two-year Masters Degree at the Royal College of Art (2014) where Martin Smith, Felicity Aylieff and Alison Britton were her tutors. After her graduation she spent 8 years living and working in London as a ceramic artist and in 2020 she returned to her hometown Athens, set up her own studio and founded the very first biannual independent ceramics fair.

Trained to deliver high end craftsmanship in the lines of British studio pottery, Melina is inspired by ancient artifacts and folk art found in the region of the Mediterranean, from the Bronze Age Cypriot ritualistic pots to 19th century traditional Cretan embroideries, her pieces carry patterns, animals and plants, realizing a dialogue of earth, fire and living things of the Great Sea across millennia.

In the past years, Melina Xenaki has worked on a series of international projects notably sculptural decorations for  the Louis Vuitton Deep Time High Jewelry Collection launch events which took place in Athens and Peloponnesus, Greece (2023).  Melina created an exclusive collection for the shop of the British Museum during the "Troy: Myth & Reality" exhibition (2019), and inspired by the artefacts presented in the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture she makes pieces for the shop (2020 and ongoing).

She has collaborated with haute cuisine chefs to create exclusive ceramics, namely the 2-Michelin-starred DELTA restaurant (2021) and the 2-FNL-starred restaurant NYN ΕΣΤΙ (2024), as well as with architects to create unique site specific ceramic installations such as the "Welcome Bench" for the 1-Michelin-starred Imperfecto Restaurant, Washington, DC (2020), a project by award winners OOAK Architects.

She has participated at a multitude of group shows, more recently in London with rossogranada and the Invisible Collection for the ‘Resilient Clay’ exhibition under the official programme of the London Craft Week (2023) and the Art Athina International Contemporary Art Fair, Athens, Greece (2022). 

She first appeared in the ceramics international scene at the Milan Design Week (2017). She has taken part in significant ceramic fairs such as Earth & Fire, Worksop, UK (2019), Oxford Ceramics Fair, Oxford, UK (2019) and most importantly Ceramic Art London, London (2024).

Melina's commissioned pieces live in the Phāea Blue hotel in Crete, the Abyss and the Mystique hotels in Santorini, in the Mykonos Blu Grecotel Boutique Hotel and the Patmos Aktis and the Westin, Costa Navarino of the of Marriott Bonvoy Collection. Her fine art ceramics are exhibited in galleries and held in private collections all over the world.