Hi! I’m AnnA
I am a maker and an artist based in Edinburgh, Scotland. I love the comfort of making beautiful things with my hands as I find it healing for my soul. I am a woman, a survivor, a mum, one human interested in growing into the comfort of being a hag and infusing the little things that bring me joy with magic. Thank you for visiting my page.
MAKER
I always loved clay and the direct connection it gives us to the Earth. The experience of shaping soil and making mud cakes as a child, adding grass seeds and flower petals to them - all that tenderness and joy warms my heart continuously.
Yarrow & Snow was born out of a physical need to touch the Source, the Mother. I was loosing hair and the earrings were my way to empower my belief that I can get through the rough times with the support of the ancient healers. The first earrings I made represented black snake - an archetype of knowledge, medicine and life force. The name came as an image encompassing the whole cycle of a year: dry summer grasses with fragrant wild herb- YARROW, and the quiet, mysterious SNOW of wintering and gathering energy. The clay making gifted me focus and strength. I felt like I could be bald and bold, like joy was in my veins.
Artist
Anna York is a Scotland-based artist born in the Owl Mountains of Poland. Interested in the human condition from an early age she studied for the MA at cultural studies at the University of Wroclaw then continued her education at the Eugeniusz Geppert Accademy of Art & Design where she obtained her BA in Art Education. She came to Scotland to study Photography at the Edinburgh College of Art. Anna works in different media focusing on the experience of art as a comment on human existence. Influenced by her experiences of cancer, motherhood and immigration she focuses on creativity as a tool for building community & compassion. Anna takes a lot of inspiration from togetherness and nature. She works with children and minority groups trying to bring empowerment and creative space for their voices to be heard. Her Planet Prints are an extension of her meditations on time and existence, inviting viewers to step out of their day-to-day perspective and recognise the universal beauty of Life. The Artist had chosen film photography, illustration & chocolate sculpture installation among the various media she had used to deal with these subjects.
“I am in love with the cosmos, growing forests and desert landscapes. I am moved by the warm colours of the Earth and the softness of driftwood caressed by the wild open sea. I listen.
Meditations on time and existence strongly impact on what I do as an artist. This reflection allows me to reach for simplicity that dignifies the subject and brings to light its timelessness.
My work on Planets is a reminder of the depth of time, the infinity of space and the beauty of the Universe. It brings out the much needed feelings of compassion and awe.”
Anna’s work has been exhibited in individual & group shows in Poland & the UK including “Quality of Everyday Life” (Summerhall, Edinburgh 2013), “Pop Masculinity” (Gayfield Creative Spaces, 2014),”Time is All Around” (Edinburgh Printmakers, 2016), “Colony of Artists” (Abbeyhill, 2016 & 2017), “Great Print Exhibition” (Rheged Centre, Cumbria, 2018 & 2019), “Mouth of a Shark” (Edinburgh Printmakers, 2019 - 2020), “Solace” (Edinburgh Printmakers 2021, “Kinship” (Edinburgh Printmakers 2022).
Anna’s screen-prints are in the permanent collection of Tonic Arts NHS Lothian Charity.
Thank you for visiting my page.
May you go well,
Anna