About the Artist:
Markian Kyba is a ceramic artist and art educator based in East Vancouver. A settler of Ukrainian/English, French/Irish descent, he lives on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. His early years were shaped by frequent moves, living in Ottawa, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Nepean, Gaborone, Tamale, and Tsawwassen before settling in Vancouver.
He attended Emily Carr College of Art and Design straight out of high school, where he explored Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Video/Sound, and Ceramics. After graduating, he set up a small pottery studio in East Vancouver while teaching art part-time and running a mobile children's clay workshop business. Over the years, he participated in craft sales, group shows, and retail pottery sales. With the arrival of his first child, he shifted his focus toward teaching, eventually earning his teaching certification.
Markian now teaches ceramics and sculpture full-time at an independent school while maintaining a home studio practice. His work emphasizes functionality, natural materials, and atmospheric firings, particularly wood firing, which he sees as a collaboration with fire and earth.
He is a strong believer in community involvement, and has served on the Board of the Potter’s Guild of B.C., as well as the Canadian Clay collective: the organizing committee behind the Canadian Clay Symposium. Other volunteer activities include the Vancouver Greenstreets volunteer gardening program, Vancouver Folk Festival, and has been actively involved in his children's sports, coaching and managing soccer teams and now supporting his youngest’s basketball pursuits. His other passions include music, reading, cycling, brewing beer, cooking, exploring, and especially gardening.
Artist statement:
Markian sees pottery as a collaboration between many forces—the hands that shape the clay, the fire that brings it to life, and the people who welcome it into their daily rituals. To this, add a fourth presence: the earth itself, the geological processes that create the clay and minerals, an essential foundation often taken for granted by ceramic artists.
Function is at the heart of what he makes. His pieces are meant to be held, used, and appreciated in the quiet moments of everyday life. While each piece is crafted with intention, he loves hearing how his work takes on new meanings and roles in the hands of others.
He strive to honour the natural qualities of the materials, allowing the clay’s softness, the texture of the surface, and the fluid movement of ash glazes to emerge. Rather than imposing too much control, he tries to listen to what the clay wants to be. This is why they are drawn to atmospheric firings, especially wood firing—it feels like a partnership with the flame, leaving behind the subtle marks of fire, ash, and time, capturing the essence of the earth’s transformation.
