Bringing literary ideas to life
Anna's work plays with the literary tradition of ‘ekphrasis’ – where a poem vividly describes a physical object.
Reversing this idea, she creates artworks that give a physical form to literary ideas, philosophy or films that have been central in her life.
Anna Butler is a London-based artist with a background in cinema and literature, and Masters degrees from Cambridge University and the Royal College of Art.
Working primarily in ceramics and glass, Anna adds bronze, textiles and whatever is close to hand.
Reverse Ekphrasis
An intriguing line of poetry, a magical scene from a film, the perplexing words of a philosopher... Anna is drawn to subjects that defy simple explanation.
Weaving together multiple references, her work gives physical form to the ideas – and mysteries – they contain. For each piece, she feels her way across a sliding scale of materials and techniques: from rugged red clay to the purest white porcelain, from the delicacy of paper to the boldness of bronze, and from age-old handmaking to new digital technologies.
In a game of creative pass-it-on, each reference becomes a starting point in an intermedial dialogue. Adding layers of interpretation, and knotting together seemingly-disparate ideas, each artwork work invites a contemplative and emotional response.
CV
EDUCATION & AWARDS
MA Ceramics & Glass, Royal College of Art, 2024 – 2025
Shortlisted, V&A Adobe Creative Residency, 2026
Masterclasses and technical courses at County Hall Pottery, Crownworks, New City College
MA Social & Political Science, Cambridge University
BA Law & Politics, Cambridge University
TEACHING
Art workshops for GCSE and A Level students: St Paul's Boys School, London W6; Haverstock School London NW1
Ceramics classes for adults: Skandihus Studios 'the best pottery classes in London' Wallpaper Magazine, 2021 - 2026
Ceramics classes for community groups; please contact for info.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Industry design collaboration with Cumbria Crystal, 2025
Working for international film studios and UK-based indies, on productions and creative campaigns for 200+ movies collaborating with award-winning directors including Steve McQueen, Pedro Almodovar, Jane Campion, Wong Kar-Wai, Walter Salles, Rebecca Miller, Danny Boyle, Tom Ford and more, 2000 - 2015
Creative and managerial roles in London cultural organisations: London Film Festival, British Film Institute, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Whitechapel Gallery, Hayward Gallery and Arts Council England, 1990 – 2000
Exhibitions 2025/26
UAL Hub, Peckham, London SE15
9 & 10 May 2026
Shared Ground
St Mark's Dalston, London E8
November 2026
Liminal Matters (II)
Thrown Contemporary
November 2025 – January 2026
Winter Art, Craft & Design Exhibition
artsdepot, London N12
November 2025 – February 2026
Winter Arts Showcase
Woodseer Street Gallery, Brick Lane, London E1
14–16 November 2025
Liminal Matters (I)
Barbican Centre Library, London
2–29 September 2025
Rivers and Roads: an imagined pilgrimage
Royal College of Art, London
June 2025
Tell all the truth but tell it slant (MA show)
“Then I felt too that I might take this opportunity to tie up a few loose ends, only of course loose ends can never be properly tied, one is always producing new ones. Time, like the sea, unties all knots. Judgements on people are never final, they emerge from summings up which at once suggest the need of a reconsideration. Human arrangements are nothing but loose ends and hazy reckoning, whatever art may otherwise pretend in order to console us.”
– Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea
