Bio

Any was born in Curitiba, Brazil. There, she became an architect and urban planner.

She spent a decade in New York, where she worked at Etsy, Inc. in communications, policy, and seller education. She went on to become Etsy's first Senior Maker Specialist, researching the production processes used by designers and makers to scale their independent businesses. During that time, she studied documentary photography—which dramatically shifted her understanding of beauty—and metalsmithing, and took up pottery as a hobby. In 2017, she quit her job at Etsy to make ceramics full time.

Currently, Any’s work centers primarily on clay and metal, but she continues to expand her knowledge of traditional crafts, from glass and fiber to kintsugi and fileteado porteño, among many others. This body of knowledge has shaped her path as an artist, and greatly informs her studio practice.

Any is an incoming MFA candidate in Ceramics (expected 2027) at Cranbrook Academy of Art. Previously, she has been a short-term resident artist at Red Lodge, Starworks, and Mendocino.

She enjoys hauling her pots on long road trips to wood firings around the country. Her passion project is Flash & Ash, a crowdsourced directory of wood kilns.

Artist Statement

My art, like me, is at the same time rooted and reaching. By choice or by force, dissonance and convergence forged me—born into a conservative religious minority within dominant Catholic and African cultures, growing up with one language and living with another, being a citizen of two countries. I am touched by the heartache and the gift of having roots.

I make vessels with creases that evoke arms, and rims that suggest the movement of hair. They stand individually or in relation to one another, considering the opposing dynamics of belonging—being known and invited, or rejected and estranged; protected or exposed; belligerent or soothed. I draw from their rims to create robust functional objects such as bowls and dishes, with sculptural carved walls that reflect the gesture of my hands. My work is often fired in wood kilns, sometimes more than once, and I am particularly attracted to dry surfaces and the crusty textures achieved by the accumulation of ash and embers in the fire box. 

Detaching from one's origins means accepting a certain measure of inner fragmentation. Giving in to my urge to reintegrate—as well as a primal need to adorn my body and my space—I combine metal and clay. The metal components are cast by pouring molten silver into water, or molded by hand using metal clay.

My process is one of introspection and layers. I ask my work for assurance that one can, at the same time, exist alone and in a tribe, affirm agency and reconcile with mooring, hold incongruous truths and be made whole for it. Then I commit to believing it.

Résumé

Work

2025, winter – Resident Artist - Red Lodge Clay Center – Red Lodge, MT
2024, fall – Resident Artist - Starworks – Star, NC
2023, spring – Artist in Retreat - Mendocino Arts Center – Mendocino, CA
2019–2020 – North Seattle College CE – Small-business Instructor – Seattle, WA
2014–2017 – Etsy, Inc. – Senior Maker Specialist – Brooklyn, NY
2010–2014 – Etsy, Inc. – Manager, Community – Brooklyn, NY
2001–2008 – Architect – Private practice – Curitiba, Brazil

Education

2027 (expected) – MFA Ceramics – Cranbrook Academy of Art – Bloomfield Hills, MI
2024 – Clay Cohorts mentorship – Lisa Orr
2022–2023 – Clay Cohorts mentorship – Simon Levin
2012 – Documentary photography – International Center of Photography, New York, NY
2008–2010 – Metal smithing - Jewelry – 92Y, New York, NY
1995–2000 – Architecture and Urban Planning – Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, Brazil

Selected Exhibitions

2024 – Small Favors at The Clay Studio – Philadelphia, PA
2024 – Kindled Spirits at Good Earth Pottery – Bellingham, WA
2022 – Introductions at Rain City Clay – Seattle, WA
2021 – Rat City Studios Past & Present at Good Earth Pottery – Bellingham, WA
2018 – The Teapot Show at Good Earth Pottery – Bellingham, WA
2018 – Bountiful – Elensburg, WA
2018 – The 6th Annual Cup Show at Jansen Art Center – Lynden, WA

Lectures, Interviews and Articles

2020 – Ceramics Ireland Magazine – “Ling Chun - What Belongs with Clay” – Issue 44
2019 – Lecture, NCECA – “Etsy & Clay: An Insider's Perspective” – Video
2019 – Lecture, CONTAF (Brazil) – “A Cerâmica Online: Como divulgar e vender suas criações na internet”
2018 – Interview, The Potter's Cast – “Etsy From an Insider’s Perspective” – Episode 392
2018 – Lecture, Washington Clay Arts Association – “Selling Online: How to Find the Right Platform For Your Business On the Web”

Community

Board of Directors, Washington Clay Arts Association (2017–2023)
Creator of Flash & Ash – Directory of Wood Kilns For Potters and Ceramic Artists