KUST is an artist-led ceramic studio founded in Kyiv, Ukraine, by Viktor and Lola Kushchenko in 2015. From the very beginning, it was imagined as more than a workshop or a production space. KUST was created as a place where ceramics could exist as art, atmosphere, education, and cultural dialogue — where objects are not only made, but shaped with meaning, memory, and presence.

Our practice is rooted in the expressive possibilities of clay. In the studio, we create sculptural lamps, ceramic objects, figurines, panels, and bespoke works by hand, with a strong attention to form, texture, light, and character. Across our work, animalistic sculpture, tactile surfaces, and emotionally charged forms have become central elements of our visual language. Each piece carries the marks of process and the presence of the maker, balancing artistic expression with material depth and function.

But KUST has always been about more than objects alone. Alongside artistic production, education and social engagement are essential parts of who we are. Through workshops, courses, and shared making, we have built a space where ceramics can be experienced not only as a finished artwork, but as a living practice — one that invites people into contact with material, gesture, imagination, and themselves.

In recent years, this practice has grown into a deeper social commitment. Since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, a significant part of our work has been directed toward rehabilitation and support for military personnel and their families. Through partnerships with rehabilitation centers, hospitals, charitable initiatives, and military support organizations, we have developed ceramic workshops, adaptive design projects, and clay-based recovery formats that bring dignity, care, and creative agency into the process of healing. Among these collaborations are Yangoly Patronage Service, the Unbroken rehabilitation center in Lviv, the Borderlands Charitable Foundation, and the First Hospital of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

This direction is also inseparable from our own reality. Viktor Kushchenko, founder of KUST, currently serves in the 3rd Army Corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As a result, part of our production and creative work is dedicated to supporting the Corps, including ceramic fundraising projects developed together with ab3.store.merch. In this way, the studio continues to evolve as a place where artistic practice meets service, resilience, and responsibility.

Today, KUST stands at the intersection of art, craft, education, and social purpose. We create collectible ceramic works, develop custom commissions, open the process of making to others, and take part in initiatives where ceramics become a means of connection, recovery, and endurance. For us, the studio is not simply where objects are produced. It is a living space of form, story, and human presence.