Annie Smits Sandano

Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Annie has lived and exhibited in New Zealand, Italy and the UK. Having completed a BFA 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 mixed media full-time professional artist with works placed in important collections nationally and abroad. Now an established Artist, Annie has had 13 solo exhibitions to date and has participated in over 90 group exhibitions throughout New Zealand and internationally in private and public galleries.

Annie was a practicing artist in London for 4 years, working out of Tannery Arts Artist Studios in Elephant and Castle in South London. She returned to New Zealand in 2020 and soon after purpose-built a studio/gallery space where she makes work for her representing galleries, produces commissions and receives clients for viewings as well as opening seasonally in the summer to the public.

Recent acquisitions have seen works featured in The Arts Trust Collection, 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.

The recent years have seen Annie Selected as finalist in the New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Award, Milly Morpeth Canaday 3D Award, Portage Ceramics Award 2019 and 2023, and the Walker and Hall Art Award 2022 and 2023. Three installation works have been selected as finalist for the Waiheke Walker & Hall Small Sculpture Prize in 2020 and 2023 and Annie is the recipient of the 2023 Benefactor’s Merit Award for her ceramic wall installation piece Portrait in Clay III. She was winner of the Rabbit Room Award at the UKU National Biannual Ceramics Awards 2024. Other recent achievements include a piece featured in Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge’s private collection.

SELECTED RESIDENCIES & AWARDS

• New Zealand Small Sculpture Award, finalist, 2025
• 61st National New Zealand Ceramics Award, finalist 2025
• Waiheke Walker & Hall Small Sculpture Award, finalist, 2025
• Quarry Ceramics Award, finalist, 2024
• UKU Hawkes Bay National Biannual Ceramics Award, winner, Rabbit Room Award, 2024
• Portage Ceramic Awards, finalist, Te Uru Contemporary Gallery, 2023
• Walker & Hall Waiheke Art Award, finalist, 2023
• Waiheke Walker & Hall Small Sculpture Award, winner, Benefactor’s Merit Award, 2023
• Waiheke Walker & Hall Small Sculpture Award, finalist, 2022
•  New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Award, finalist, 2022
• Walker & Hall Waiheke Art Award, finalist, 2022
• Molly Morpeth Canaday Sculpture Award, ceramics finalist, 2021
• Waiheke Walker & Hall Small Sculpture Award, finalist, 2020
• Portage Ceramics Award, Te Uru Contemporary Gallery, finalist, 2019
• Waikato Society of Arts National Youth Art Award finalist (2010, 2011, 2013)
• Summer Residency (2019), Turning Earth Ceramics Studios, London, UK. Major: Hand building
• Printmaking Residency (2018), London Print Studio, London, UK. Major: monoprinting
• Printmaking Residency (2017), Art Print Residency, Barcelona, Spain. Major: Carborundum printmaking
• Painting Residency (2016), Studio Art Center International, Florence, Italy. Major: Acrylic painting
• Printmaking Residency (2016), Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne, Australia. Major: Monoprinting
• Summer Residency (2001), Rhode Island School of Design, Rhode Island, USA. Majors: Art History, Ceramics,
• Autumn Residency (2001), Studio Art Center International, Florence, Italy. Majors: Ceramics and painting

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

• Pa Homestead Arts Trust, New Zealand
• The Private Collection of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, London, UK
• Chris Moller collection, CMA+U Architects, New Zealand
• Ernst & Young Art Collection, New Zealand
• Hilton Group Art Collection, New Zealand
• Brazilian Embassy, Wellington, New Zealand

SELECTED COMMISSIONS

• Lake Hayes Luxury Estate private collection, Queenstown, New Zealand, 2024
• Ernst & Young Art Collection, New Zealand, 2025
• Brazilian Embassy, Wellington, New Zealand, 2021 & 2022
• Auckland City Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand, 2019 & 2024

Exhibition History:

Solo Exhibitions:

2023 Sun Seekers, Turua Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2022 Exuberance, Gallery De Novo, Dunedin, NZ
2021 Lush, Turua Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2020 Fabled Paradise, Solander Gallery, Wellington, NZ
2016 Romantic Ideals: New Zealand Landscapes, Seed Gallery, Auckland
2015 Colour Sounds, Gallery De Novo, Dunedin
2014 Full Spectrum, ORA Gallery, Wellington
2013 Flying Through Clouds, Kina Gallery, New Plymouth
2012 Menagerie, Solander Works on Paper Gallery, Wellington
2012 Colour Wheel, Seed Gallery, Auckland
2010 Milk and Honey, Parnell Gallery, Auckland
2009 The Unexplained, Fantastic & Unusual, Seed Gallery, Auckland
2008 My Other Eden, Seed Gallery, Auckland
2007 Delirious Utopia, Seed Gallery, Auckland
Selected Two-person & Three-person Exhibitions:
2023 Fluidity, ORA Gallery, Wellington, NZ
2017 Taking Shape, Seed Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2016 Annie Smits Sandano and Kiya Nancarrow, Gallery Thirty Three, Wanaka, NZ
2012 Birds Suite, The Print Room, London, UK
2009 Annie Smits Sandano and Jane Gray, Toi o Tahuna Fine Art Gallery, Queenstown, NZ
2008 Kiwianarama Panorama, two-person show, LeSA Gallery, Wellington, NZ

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2025 WSA Small Sculpture Award, finalist exhibition, 2025
2025 Walker & Hall Waiheke Art Award, Waiheke Gallery, Waiheke, New Zealand
2024 UKU Hawkes Bay National Biannual Ceramics Award, winner, Rabbit Room Award, 2024
2024 Summer Show, Thrown Contemporary, London, UK
2024 Walker & Hall Waiheke Art Award, Waiheke Gallery, Waiheke, New Zealand
2023 Portage Ceramic Awards, finalist exhibition, Te Uru Contemporary Gallery Waitakere Auckland, 2023
2023 Summer Show, Thrown Contemporary, Cornwall, UK
2023 Walker & Hall Waiheke Art Award, Waiheke Gallery, Waiheke, New Zealand
2022 New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Award, finalists exhibition, The Pavilion, Hamilton Gardens, New Zealand
2022 Walker & Hall Waiheke Art Award, Waiheke Gallery, Waiheke, New Zealand
2021 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award, finalist exhibition, Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi, Whakatane, New Zealand
2021 Cloud 9, Dream Pavilion Exhibitions, The Grey Place, Auckland, NZ
2021 Summer Show, Thrown Contemporary, London, UK
2021 Push Play, Seed Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2020 Winter Exhibition 2020, Thrown Gallery, London, UK
2020 Small Sculpture Awards finalist exhibition, Waiheke Gallery, Auckland NZ
2020 Prism, Thrown Gallery, London, UK
2019 Portage Ceramics Award finalist exhibition, Te Uru Contemporary Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2019 Breaking Ground, Seed Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2019 White Hot, Parnell Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2018 Ahead of the Curve, Seed Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2018 End of Year Edit, Seed Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2018 Summer Selection, London Print Studio, London, UK
2017 Summer Selection, London Print Studio, London, UK
2017 Miami Red Dot Art Fair, Miami, USA
2016 To The Point, Seed Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2016 SACI Summer Salon, Florence, Italy
2015 White Night, Parnell Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2015 Summer Salon, Solander Gallery, Wellington, NZ
2014 Paper to Polystyrene, Seed Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2014 Braveheart Youth Trust Art Show, curated by Liz Caughey, Auckland, NZ
2012 Winter Light, Gallery De Novo, Dunedin, NZ
2011 Flock of Birds, Port Jackson Press, Melbourne, Australia
2011 Flying Colours, Seed Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2010 The End, Port Jackson Press, Melbourne, Australia
2010 Ministry of Art and Design exhibition, Auckland, NZ
2009 Waikato Society of Arts Youth Art Awards Finalist Exhibition, WSA, Hamilton, NZ
2008 New Zealand Works on Paper, Exquisite Corpse Gallery, Michigan, USA
2006 Print installation at National Institute of Creative Arts & Industries, Architecture building, Auckland University, NZ
2006 Converging Margins, George Fraser Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2004 Elam School of Fine Arts, Mondrian Building, Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University, Auckland, NZ
2001 RISD student group show “Time Out”, Rhode Island School of Design Student Gallery, Providence, USA
2001 End of year student Exhibition, SACI Student Gallery, SACI School of Fine Arts, Florence, Italy