An artist who plays with the fire: Ionel Cojocariu

The kindergarten on the dusty, narrow street is noisy because the kiddies are vehemently protesting. They are on a "strike."

They are displeased and protest the attitude of the "grownups" in older classes that assumed ownership of the few toys still in one piece.

The "munchkins" are no longer content with the wheels and remains of toy cars and broken paws from stuffed animals. The altercations are barely contained by the teacher. She was "bombarded" with toy parts.

Among those on strike back then, was plastic artist Ionel Cojocariu, one of the most important sculptural ceramists in Romania. He was restless and full of energy even as a child.

He spent his childhood on the borders of the Siret river in the village of Zvoristea near Suceava.

He was involved in a car accident when he climbed in a truck and blocked the brake pedal thus making the driver fall in a ditch, tractor included.

The "clandestine passenger" was not harmed. He came close to drowning when he jumped in the Siret in an area that had just been dug.

He didn't realise how deep the water was and he barely surfaced. When he was in the 5th grade his father introduced him to his uncle, a Latin and English teacher who was "into art" and wanted to see if the kid was "any good at it." from that moment on, the artist's destiny of Ionel Cojocariu was set.

He went to the Plastic Arts and Music Lyceum in Botosani until the 7th grade, moved to Suceava for the 8th grade and the went to high school at the "Octav Bancila" Plastic Arts and Music High School in Iasi.

When he was in the 10th grade his father died and that marked him for life. As he no longer had financial support, he had to sustain himself and abandoned school.

A few ears later he took it up again, this time at the Tonitza High School in Bucharest. He was drafted and had to interrupt his studies again. He went to military service a day after his birthday (17 October), and ended up where he most feared - the Lugoj infantry.

Bad luck followed him and his military service was prolonged by two months due to the Afghanistan events that had just started. Ionel Cojocariu would have liked to go to the University in a Graphics section but after a few consecutive failures he passed the exam for ceramics.

This time he entered an area he was bless familiar to him. It was Professor Costel Badea, who instilled the passion for ceramics in him. Although he finally learned the secrets of "fire arts" his debut was with a few paintings. Ionel Cojocariu can be considered a true professional of sculptural ceramic.

He participated to international displays in France, Greece, Bulgaria, Germany and Belgium. Even though people still think ceramics is about pots, Ionel Cojocariu (professor at the Art University of Bucharest), proves by his creations that sculptural ceramics exist and this kind of art is highly appreciated in the country and abroad although the condition of the Romanian artist is less inferior to that of occidental artists.