Maiyan Ben Yona (b. 1986) is an Israeli ceramic artist living and working in South Tel Aviv. She graduated from the Ceramic and Glass Design Department at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in 2016, where she received academic excellence awards in her second and third years, as well as a distinction prize for her final project, Point of View.

Her practice centers on porcelain. Ben Yona creates sculptural structures composed of hundreds of small porcelain particles, each formed and assembled by hand. Together they create organic systems that move between reality and imagination, between nature and abstraction. Alongside her sculptural works, she produces functional and decorative porcelain vessels, hand-painted with patterns inspired by textiles, nature, and ancient cultures. Her engagement with color, rhythm, and repetition forms a distinctive visual language that bridges ceramic tradition and contemporary design.

Ben Yona was awarded the First Studio Scholarship at Beit Benyamini – Center for Contemporary Ceramics (2016–2017), and a residency grant at the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts (2019). Her work has been exhibited in Israel and internationally, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Fresh Paint Art Fair, the Holon Museum, and in her solo exhibition Into the Depth of the Surface at Periscope Gallery (2020).

Alongside her studio practice, she has taught at the Ceramic and Glass Design Department at Bezalel and at Beit Benyamini."

"My work is an ongoing dialogue between the disciplined precision of the potter’s wheel and the organic, unpredictable rhythms of nature. Having grown up surrounded by lush greenery and later the vast serenity of the desert, I am drawn to the ""quiet"" of the material—the way clay can hold both stillness and movement simultaneously.

The core of my practice lies in the creation of functional objects, decorated with intricate, handmade patterns. My inspiration comes from everything I see around me: colorful textiles, plants, shadows, and the vibrancy of local markets. I am also deeply drawn to ancient tribal cultures and the wisdom of ceramic traditions from around the world. All these elements blend together to create a unique visual language that bridges the gap between daily utility and aesthetic emotion.

In parallel, I am developing a distinct artistic language that seeks to establish a new order in the realm of ornamentation. In this sculptural work, I examine what happens to a vessel when the shapes intended to decorate it exceed its surface. By removing repetitive patterns from the two-dimensional plane and giving them three-dimensional life—often through thousands of individually handcrafted porcelain particles—I disassemble and rebuild known forms. This technique creates a ""frozen nature,"" infusing the static object with a sense of movement and vitality. While the work captures the material tension between the tenderness of porcelain and the raw roughness of stoneware , it is this specific, meticulous technique that ultimately gives each piece its distinct character.”