Mira Polyakova-Grigorieva
’26 Communication Design
Koi No Hana (“Flower of the Koi”) embodies a moment of transformation suspended in clay. It tells the story of a creature caught in the act of becoming something new. In Japanese folklore, Koi are celebrated for their resilience —swimming upstream against currents, with the power to transform into dragons.
In this work, I imagined a Koi not turning into a dragon, as the legend says, but blooming into a flower — becoming something fragile, surprising, and a little fantastical. The vessel emerges as a hybrid form-part fish, part flower. Scales fan out like petals, fins twist into unexpected curves like waves frozen mid-motion, and glazes are layered in shades of deep blue, echoing the water.
This work is both playful and curious — an exploration of what happens when myth takes an unexpected turn. The piece reflects this in-between moment, where water meets air, permanence meets impermanence. Koi No Hana is less about arriving at a final form and more about the beauty of being in-between.
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Miroslava (Mira) Polyakova-Grigorieva is a multidisciplinary graphic designer based in Boston. Since establishing her artistic practice after relocating from Moscow in 2021, she discovered her passion for 3D mediums as she explores mixed-media work. She has an enthusiasm for handcrafting pieces with unique textures and imperfections.
Mira’s attention to craft allows her to expand her understanding of graphic design, discovering new methods to visually convey her ideas. She continues to experiment and deepen her formal knowledge with every new creation she makes.
