Mr. Raw is a tender declaration of emotional courage. Sculpted during Riess’s time in Tuscany, this ceramic head dares to cry—tears not of weakness, but of presence. This face is open, vulnerable, and unguarded, allowing emotion to surface without apology. A golden scar runs across the form, not hidden but honored—a luminous reminder that healing is part of the story.

The rawness lies not in roughness, but in honesty. With its hand-formed texture and quiet intensity, Mr. Raw embodies the radical act of feeling deeply in a world that often asks us to harden. He meets our gaze with softness. He doesn't flinch.

Crafted in the warmth of the Tuscan landscape, the sculpture holds both fragility and strength, inviting us to do the same.

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 Claygroundretreat and the creator of 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.