Ana Ionescu (b. 1999, Bucharest) is an artist whose practice is centered on sculpture and who lives and works between Bucharest and London. In 2025, she graduated from the MA Sculpture program at the Royal College of Art in London.
Her practice explores the relationship between object, corporeality, and perception, creating sculptures that oscillate between the familiar and the imaginary, functionality and absurdity. Her works investigate the tensions between attraction and repulsion, fragility and aggression, inviting viewers to project their own interpretations onto forms situated at the boundary between reality and fiction. She has exhibited in Romania, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Portugal, and was a finalist for the Peter Jecza Sculpture Prize in 2025.
You studied sculpture in an international context at the Royal College of Art in London, while your practice unfolds between Bucharest and London. How has this context influenced the way you approach sculpture and the art scene?
Ana Ionescu: I think that, when it comes to my artistic practice and, implicitly, the way I see sculpture, I have gained a great deal from this experience. During my master’s at the Royal College of Art, I had the ideal context to ask myself the questions I needed in order to understand my intentions and direction. I remember a shortened exercise: WWWH, or something similar, in which we had to answer the questions: What? Why? Where? When? How? It sounds simple, but somehow it forced you to confront the relevant starting points as well as the gaps in the concept.
As for the art scene, both cities are fantastic and have a great deal to offer. London is an understatement when it comes to its size, and physically, there is no way to see all the exhibitions or openings taking place across the city. One of the benefits is having the opportunity to see, in person, the major names of the international art scene, both artists and galleries. It is an experience that gives you an entirely different understanding of the works. At the same time, Bucharest has a strong sense of community, with closer connections. Things are also developing beautifully, and it feels like a collective effort that is taking shape and becoming increasingly dynamic.
How would you define your artistic practice?
A.I.: My artistic practice reflects a deep interest in the way we navigate the external world and interact with objects, an experience that I see as shaped by our inherent need to find meaning and perceive ourselves as the central figure. For me, the connection between the viewer and the sculpture is extremely important — something that Marcel Duchamp describes in The Creative Act as essential, with the true meaning of the work ultimately belonging to the audience.
A theme and aspect closely connected to this relationship is the way sculpture occupies a transitional space between reality and another world. My works often refer to familiar forms, suggesting performative or bodily functions, but these forms are transformed in ways that invite personal projections. The integration of the object evokes an imaginary interaction, in which connections from the past coexist with new narratives. At times, the object moves beyond its passive state and takes on an identity of its own, becoming an exaggeration that exists in our minds.
What is the starting point for a new series of works? Do you begin with an image, a material, a text, or a personal experience?
A.I.: I think the starting point always comes from a personal experience or belief, which I often transform in the process. I believe that everything should stem from an honest connection between the artist and the work. At the same time, I try to find points of connection between my own experience and that of the viewer through research (texts, art criticism). In this way, an informed conceptual idea begins to take shape, one that allows for a direct connection with the audience and engages with both the current artistic context and the socio-political context.
You exhibited in Craiova as part of the group exhibition Imaginary Dialogues with Brâncuși: Expanding the Boundaries of Artistic Expression, a cultural project marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of sculptor Constantin Brâncuși. The project included a series of research visits to Craiova and Târgu Jiu, giving you the opportunity to encounter some of Brâncuși’s most important works directly, from the Heroes’ Way Monumental Ensemble to The Kiss, exhibited at the Craiova Art Museum. How did you experience this, and what did direct contact with Brâncuși’s work convey to you beyond what you already knew?
A.I.: For me, it was the first time I had seen Brâncuși’s work in person. I know, rather late for a sculptor. Although I was familiar with his works, their physical presence is different from what you experience through photographs; they are more penetrating because you can relate them to your own body. I think it is only when you share physical space with a work that you can experience it in its entirety. Also, hearing about all the layers underlying his creative process gave me a broader and more complex understanding of his work than I had before.
Do you feel that your direct experience with Brâncuși’s work influenced, in any way, how you view your own practice or the works presented in this project?
A.I.: I think that any direct encounter with a work of art, and especially with sculpture — by which I mean the ability to understand its form, scale, and material — influences your practice. In this way, it becomes part of a kind of catalogue of visual information stored somewhere in each of our minds, which, consciously or subconsciously, shapes our perspective.
In the exhibition „Imaginary Dialogues with Brâncuși”, you presented a selection of works that had previously been shown as part of other artistic events. To what extent does your relationship with your own works change when they are presented in a different exhibition space and within a specific curatorial context?
A.I.: I’m returning to Duchamp once again, but I think that, starting with him and the concept of the readymade, it was established that sculpture and any artwork, but especially three-dimensional objects, change their meaning depending on the context in which they are placed. Clearly, in this case, the relationships between the works change, while the light and the dialogue with the other artists in the space can make even you, as an artist, discover something new.
In what direction is your practice heading? Are there any themes and/or new media you would like to explore?
A.I.: At the moment, in terms of materials, I will be focusing primarily on metal. It is a complex material, with many layers to discover, and I am only just beginning to understand it, even though I have been working with it for two years. I feel that this gives me an increasingly broad space for creativity and exploration in working with the material. In terms of themes, for now, I am still investigating the same subjects mentioned in the questions above. I think that when we are dealing with something personal and genuinely important to an artistic practice, the process of exploration takes time.
