Annie Sandano

Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Annie has lived and worked in New Zealand, Italy and the UK.

Having completed a Bachelor Fine Arts with Honours at Elam School of Fine Arts, the Rhode Island School of Design in the USA, and SACI in Florence Italy, she has since worked as a full-time professional artist. Annie has had 13 solo exhibitions to date and has participated in over 80 group exhibitions. She has exhibited extensively throughout New Zealand and internationally, and her work is held in private and public galleries nationally and internationally.

Annie was based as a practicing artist in London for 4 years, working out of Tannery Arts Artist Studios in Elephant and Castle in South London. She has recently returned to New Zealand in 2020 and exhibitions since include solo exhibitions at Solander Gallery in Wellington, Turua Gallery in Auckland and Gallery De Novo in Dunedin.

In 2021 Annie launched her own curating/exhibition initiative: Dream Pavilion – an artist-led program fostering community and experimentation outside of a traditional gallery schedule bringing together artists from around the world. It’s inaugural exhibition, Cloud 9, which opened in Auckland in July involved 14 artists from around New Zealand, London and Melbourne.

Recent acquisitions have seen works featured in The Wallace Arts Trust, The Hilton Group and the Deloitte Art Collection. Thrown Gallery in London has sold out of Annie’s inaugural brutalist-inspired ceramics collection, placing works in important ceramics collections in the UK and Europe.

Other recent achievements include having an installation selected as finalist and catalogue cover for New Zealand's 2019 Portage Ceramics Award, a piece featured in Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge’s private collection and having two pieces selected as finalists for the Waikato Society of Arts Waikato Youth Art Awards. A wall installation hoop work has also been selected as finalist for the Waiheke Small Sculpture Prize in 2020.