I’m Carmen I. Olteanu, and I speak fluent clay, color, and chaos (the beautiful kind). My art lives somewhere between ancient tradition and modern experimentation—because why choose one when you can have both?

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I paint, sculpt, and shape ceramics as if they’re all part of the same language. For me, they’re just different ways to tell the same story: one about emotion, space, people, and that magical rhythm you feel in your chest when you truly connect with a work of art.

I was born in Petroșani, a quiet town nestled in the Jiului Valley, where mountains taught me how to see beauty in silence and stillness. Nature was my first muse. From my early exhibitions in Lupeni to years of studying iconography in Bucharest, I’ve always followed curiosity (and a fair amount of pigment) wherever it led me.

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In 1999, I moved to Timișoara, fell in love with the place—and decorative painting—and never left. I spent 20 years working alongside Luciano Rottini, learning the secrets of pigments, primers, and storytelling through color. Somewhere along the way, I also dove deep into ceramics and sculpture, completing years of study with inspiring mentors like Gloria Grati and Remus Irimescu.

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Now, I mix all three—painting, sculpture, and ceramics—into what I like to call soulful messes. In my hands, earth gets warm, color gets loud, and form gets a little poetic. That’s where my world begins: between shape and feeling, tradition and rebellion, art and life.