Anna Wallenius

From a flourishing business career in China, to a ceramic storyteller in Iceland - the journey towards becoming an artist was neither straight nor certain for the Finnish artist Anna Wallenius. But when she realized she couldn't ignore her growing passion for creation and a constant movement towards art, she left her career in international business and decided to re-educate. When finishing her second Bachelor degree, this time in design, she started to work as a service designer with focus on interior concepts. Even if she worked more creatively than ever before, she didn't feel fully satisfied.

During a trip to Reykjavik in 2016 Anna Wallenius immediately fell in love with the fluffy and majestic clouds. Back in her hometown Helsinki in Finland, she couldn't stop thinking of these new impressive landscape impressions, and realized she missed working with her hands. Spontaneously, but whole-hearted, she applied to a ceramic degree in Reykjavik and got in. A month later, a move to the dreamy and clouded country was a fact.

After graduating as a ceramicist Anna Wallenius came one step closer to her loving clouds. In the countryside area, close to the sea gulf, mountains and low traveling clouds, she started her own workshop together with her boyfriend. By using clay as her canvas, Anna Wallenius has found a unique expression and creative mindset and tells beautiful stories through her artworks. With a strong fascination for soft shapes that invite to be touched, she describes working with clay as a play with illusions in the way that no matter how soft the shape looks, it is still hard.

"My way of working is to discover dreamy and magical details in surrounding reality, add a bit of imagination and tell the story in clay."

In the collection, made exclusively for The Ode To, Anna Wallenius has translated her visions into dreamlike sculptures in soft but inviting colours. The collection celebrates the fascinating scenery of Iceland, the natural beauty and the ever-changing shapes that only nature can create. Even if the Rainbow Clouds were created in the middle of the pandemic, when life was filled with uncertainty and restricted in many ways, the result feels neither frightening nor limited. Inspired by surrounding landscape with snowy mountain peaks, marshmallow clouds and rainbows Anna Wallenius has created fanciful and joyful art that speaks directly to your heart.