Anna Riess is a multidisciplinary artist and cultural anthropologist based in Vienna. Her work explores themes of embodiment, emotion, and interbodily relations through materials like clay, metal, and textiles. Deeply influenced by her experience of motherhood, she transforms everyday objects into symbolic forms - one of her gestures she describes as the “nippelization of the everyday.”

Riess is the co-founder of the Clayground retreat and the creator of the Circle of Clay, a workshop series she has led at institutions such as the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna or the Hotel Kai36 in Graz. Her workshops invite participants—regardless of prior experience—to develop their own sculptural language through hands-on engagement with clay.

Her sculptural objects possess a strong visual identity and tactile presence, marked by a recognizable aesthetic and a willingness to push the boundaries of material behavior. Especially drawn to the tactility of clay, Riess explores how movement and fluidity can be captured in form—leaving the trace of the hand visible in its hardened state. With a strong interest in local materials and interdisciplinary exchange, her practice bridges artistic, social, and ecological concerns in both conceptual and applied ways.

Latest Exhibitions

2021 group Show „Sonntag Nachmittag auf der Insel“ Tina Graf, Anna Riess, Eva Yurkova, Vienna, AUSTRIA
2022 FINAL SALE - Systemerhalterinnen intervenieren, Jan Arnold Gallery, MQ, Vienna, AUSTRIA
2022 artist talk online and group show, Haus des Papiers, Berlin, GERMANY
2022 ‘EXPO22‘ group Show, Spoiler Aktionsraum, Berlin, GERMANY
2022 ‘belly bacon’ at Museum Angerlehner, AUSTRIA
2023 ‘belly bacon’ at Goldschmiedehaus Hanau, GERMANY
2023 artist talk & research at Haugar kunstmuseum, Tønsberg, NORWAY
2023 on 8th of March ’set in stone’ up for Auction, Artcare, Vienna, AUSTRIA
2023 ‘Clay on display’, group show, Vienna, AUSTRIA
2023 Vienna Design Week, Contribution: ‘Installation on fragilitiy’ & research ‘fragile intervention’
2024 OPEN KERAMIK research at MAK, Vienna, AUSTRIA
2024 performance February 22st for ‘oh wow. Jeannes Varieté’ at Studio Molière. Vienna
2024 Sculpture ‘belly bacon’ in group show »BEYOND ADORNMENT – A Korean-Austrian Contemporary Jewellery Showcase« at SeMoCA, Seoul Museum of Craft Art, Seoul, KOREA
2024 Object ‘boob brooch’ in group show ‘treasure island’ at FORTE KULANSHI ART SPACE GALLERY, Astana, KASACHSTAN
2024 Groupshow Kunst:Garten KULTURRAUM und Open Air museum, IDENTITIES: Christian Kri Kammerhofer, Anna Riess, Eva Ursprung, Lange Nacht der Museen, Graz, AUSTRIA
2024 Solo presentation ‘fragile gestures’ at Kunsthandel Katharina Husslein, Josefstädter Strasse 11, 1080 Vienna, AUSTRIA

2025 Surrealist Salon - ‘FEVER DREAM’ at Zurich art weekend curated by Olena Iegorova and FOMO Art space, group show,

2025 12.-21-9. Solo exhibition, VALIE EXPORT Kubus, Lerchenfelder Gürtel, Bogen 48, 1080 Vienna, AUSTRIA

Currently working on a research/prototyping project with Marie Janssen and the bioregional.agency for Wirtschaftsagentur Wien x Wiener Linien x Jan Boelen: Biofabrique Vienna