Meet the artist behind FARPHORIA

My name is Xenia Busalova and I am the artist, designer ,and maker behind FARPHORIA.

The traditional symbol of the 18th wedding anniversary is porcelain - a material that perfectly reflects a lasting marriage: delicate in appearance yet remarkably strong - it can last forever with proper care but is very fragile when neglected. Every piece of jewellery you discover here is designed and handmade by me in my London studio to celebrate love, memory, gratitude, and meaningful moments.

 

I have wanted to become an artist for as long as I can remember. I was born and grew up in the far north of Siberia, where winter lasted for almost nine months of the year. Endless landscapes of untouched snow surrounded me throughout my childhood. Looking back now, I often wonder whether that overwhelming whiteness quietly shaped my attraction to porcelain long before I ever touched the material. Today I spend my days working with another kind of white landscape - pure porcelain.

Alongside secondary school, I completed four years of classical academic training at the Art School for Youth while simultaneously attending a school specialising in math and physics, graduating with the highest distinction.

Although art was always my passion, my father believed I should first obtain what he considered a "proper profession." In the country where I grew up, becoming an artist was rarely regarded as a realistic career. He always said that if my commitment to art was genuine, I would eventually find my own way back to it. In hindsight, he was absolutely right.

Before becoming a full-time artist, I spent twelve years working in corporate finance. While that career taught me discipline, resilience, and analytical thinking I increasingly realised that I wanted a completely different life - one centred on creativity, craftsmanship and making with my own hands.

I left finance to study Fine Art at Chelsea College of Arts before completing my Master's degree in Contemporary Art Practice at the Royal College of Art - one of the world's leading institutions for art and design.

Why I work with porcelain

People often ask why I chose porcelain rather than precious metals or gemstones.

The answer is surprisingly simple - porcelain is an honest material with attitude.

It refuses shortcuts. It remembers every touch, it reveals every mistake, it demands patience, precision, mindfulness, and respect from the artist working with it.

Once fired at over 1240°C, porcelain becomes incredibly strong yet it continues to appear wonderfully fragile. Its pure whiteness allows light to travel through its surface in a way that gives every piece a unique luminosity.

Perhaps, I was always destined to work with it. The endless snowfields of my childhood and the quiet beauty of porcelain feel deeply connected in my mind. Both possess a sense of stillness, clarity and purity that I continue to seek in my work.

Founding FARPHORIA

After graduating from the Royal College of Art, I quickly realised that sustaining art studio was extraordinarily difficult. Rather than seeing this as a limitation, I decided to create something that could support both artistic freedom and financial sustainability. That is how FARPHORIA was born.

Its name combines farfor (the Slavic word for porcelain) with euphoria - reflecting both my primary material and emotion.

Soon afterwards I was selected for the Creative Brand Accelerator at the InnovationRCA - the Royal College of Art's business incubator for creative entrepreneurs. InnovationRCA played a transformative role in helping me develop FARPHORIA from an artistic idea into a sustainable creative business.

Like many independent artists, my journey was built slowly.

For years I exhibited at pop-up markets, craft fairs, numerous exhibitions including, but not limited, Royal Academy of Arts, fine art galleries, biennales.

I spent lots of time talking directly to customers, learning from every conversation and over the time I noticed something unexpected. Again and again, husbands searching for a truly meaningful 18th wedding anniversary gift for their wife found their way to my stand or simply discovering my studio online.

They were not simply looking for jewellery. They were looking for a gift that symbolised eighteen years of marriage. Something handmade rather than mass-produced, meaningful rather than fashionable - something unique enough to reflect a relationship that had taken almost two decades to build.

That realisation quietly shaped FARPHORIA into what it is today.

Handmade in London - one piece at a time

FARPHORIA is intentionally a one-woman studio.

Every piece you see has been designed and handmade, glazed, fired, finished, photographed and carefully packaged entirely by me in my London studio. There are no moulds, no batches, no production lines and no outsourced manufacturing. Every flower, leaf and sculptural form is individually made by hand, ensuring that no two pieces are ever exactly alike - just as no two marriages are ever the same neither two flowers are the same.

Each sculpture begins as soft malleable porcelain before undergoing multiple kiln firings at temperatures over 1240°C. Many pieces are then finished with pure gold or platinum lustre before returning to the kiln for one final firing.

The process is slow, demanding and impossible to rush. The result is jewellery that cannot be replicated and every FARPHORIA piece is genuinely one of a kind.

Jewellery made from real flowers and plants

Nature has always been my greatest inspiration and collaborator.

Many of my most recognisable pieces begin not in the studio but outdoors where I carefully gather real flowers, leaves and seed heads before transforming them into porcelain using an innovative method I have developed through years of experimentation.

During firing, the organic material burns away completely, leaving behind only porcelain shell that forever preserves a fleeting moment of beauty.

If you would like to discover exactly how I transform real flowers into porcelain jewellery, you can read more about my making process here.

Exploring the relationship between porcelain and glass

Although porcelain remains at the heart of FARPHORIA, my practice continues to evolve.

In 2026 I was awarded an Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grant to undertake the international residency in Prague - the historic centre of Bohemian glassmaking. My research is about the relationship between porcelain and kiln-formed glass, how these two remarkable materials can coexist within contemporary jewellery and conceptual artwork.

Mentoring emerging creative businesses

Alongside my own artistic practice, I mentor emerging creative brands through the InnovationRCA.

This role feels especially meaningful because it completes a circle as InnovationRCA once mentored me when FARPHORIA existed in a very early stages. Returning as a mentor allows me to support other creative entrepreneurs beginning the same journey that I once undertook myself.

More than jewellery

When I am working in my studio in London, I feel completely peaceful. The outside world becomes quiet. Hours pass almost unnoticed as I listen audiobooks and handsculpt .

My studio is where I feel happiest. I genuinely believe that every FARPHORIA piece reflects the love of porcelain, a deep connection to nature, and the love poured into its making. I like to think that this positive energy eventually finds its way to the person who wears it.

Thank you

By choosing FARPHORIA you are supporting an independent artist, traditional craftsmanship and a slower, more thoughtful way of making.

I hope one-of-a-kind porcelain jewellery by FARPHORIA becomes part of your own story.