Daniela Cățoi - România
Daniela Cățoi
Designer biography:
DANIELA CĂȚOI is a Bucharest-based Romanian porcelain jewelry designer. She has an artistic education, holding a Bachelor's degree (2010) and a Master's degree (2013) in Graphics from the Bucharest National University of Arts (Romania). Shortly after finishing her studies, Daniela worked as a full-time art teacher for a gymnasium. In 2013, she began collaborating with the National Palace of Children in Bucharest, where she has taught ceramics since the beginning, as well as painting for a while. Along with this professional change, Daniela began to focus her artistic career in the field of ceramics, especially porcelain, studying and experimenting as a self-taught different techniques, finishes, compositions, etc. Her work has been recognized through awards such as Noel 2023 and 2024, the ESHTE Award (Author, 2024), the Assamblage School Award (ROJW, 2024), and the Public Choice Award (Autor, 2025).
Collection concept:
Deeper Into Form (2026) continues the Nature’s Hidden Beauties Collection (2023), deepening an exploration of perception, discomfort, and transformation. What began as a personal reconciliation with the overlooked aspects of nature now moves closer, more direct, and more intentional. Insects, once distant and unsettling, become central subjects of study. They are no longer softened, but observed, deconstructed, and reinterpreted through new forms, revealing their quiet complexity and unexpected beauty. The process evolves alongside this shift. Porcelain is explored through new textures, surfaces, and tonal variations, giving each piece a more tactile, expressive presence. The material is pushed ‒ cracked, layered, refined ‒ mirroring the intricate logic of the natural world. Gold remains, but with a more subtle role, tracing forms and emphasizing movement, tension, and fragility. This collection continues a space where discomfort and fascination coexist, inviting a closer, and more honest connection with nature.
