Mixed media and Installation artist
About
Anna Masters is a British artist whose multidisciplinary practice explores the many facets of repair as an artistic process. Working with materials that have broken, been disregarded or otherwise lost their value, she transforms forgotten elements into exquisite, poetic artworks. From sumptuous petal-filled landscapes to clocks that have disentangled themselves from the ticking of time, Masters takes fragments of the lived world and negotiates new futures for them - through care and meticulous attention. Known most notably for her 'suspended' mixed media artworks - which seem to float precariously in space - her practice further incorporates painting, installation, public art and participatory practice.
Since the break up of her parents, and the later death of her father, Masters has experienced the world around her as fragmented; ideas of permanence and stability feel foreign to her, her sense of home dislodged. Through her artistic practice, she is able to come to terms with a reality that feels a little broken - to find ways to re-establish beauty and wonder from the residue. Her works are a reflection of a heart that has been broken through loss, betrayal and unmet promises - and a tenacious refusal to allow those breaks to shape her reality. But this utopian vision is always flawed: the flowers in her landscapes cannot grow, her clocks can never tell time. The stability and permanence she achieves in the works comes at a cost, and it is in this problematic dance that Masters’ works find real richness.
An Arts Council England grant recipient and winner of the 2022 London Metropolitan Award for Creative Innovation, her works have been widely exhibited and collected across the UK, Europe and the United States. Her award-winning public art commissions and collaborations with leading international brands have established her as a distinctive voice in the contemporary art scene. Her work is represented internationally by Les Galeries Bartoux.
Her current series of works look at the relationship between repair and care, and form part of her PhD research. To stay up to date with her latest works and exhibitions, subscribe to the mailing list here.
BIOGRAPHY
Masters is currently a post-graduate research student at London Metropolitan University. She previously graduated from Staffordshire University in 2004 with a First Class Honours Degree in Fine Art, and holds Masters degrees in Arts Policy and Management (Birkbeck, University of London, 2012) and Public Art and Performative Practice (London Metropolitan University, 2022). She was awarded a grant from Arts Council England in 2013 for the development of her mixed media works, and won the London Metropolitan award for Creative Innovation in 2022. She has been commissioned for public artworks, including the award-winning participatory project 'Something Good'. She has exhibited widely across the UK, Europe and United States and collaborated with brands including Disney, P&O Cruises, Saga, The Lanesborough and the Dorchester Collection. Her works are represented internationally by Les Galeries Bartoux.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Refuge: Solo exhibition, Safe House, London (forthcoming May 2027)
An Ecology of Line, online (forthcoming May 2026). Curated by Camilla Nelson.
Bartoux Miami Art Week, Joint exhibition, Galerie Bartoux, Miami (2025)
La Toussant: Group exhibition, Galerie Dauphin, Honfleur (2025)
Colour Field: Site Specific installation, Basingstoke, UK (2025)
Art Miami: Represented by Les Galeries Bartoux, Miami (2024)
Novel Landscapes: Group exhibition, gallery@oxo, London (2024)
The Art of Flowers: Collaborative exhibition and performance, Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire (2024)
Landscapes: Group exhibition, The Lanesborough, London (2023). Curated by Catherine Thomas.
Les Galeries Bartoux 30th Anniversary: Group exhibition, Galerie Dauphin, Honfleur (2023)
The Geographies of Time: Solo exhibition, London Metropolitan, London (2022)
Home: Group exhibition, Kaleidoscope Gallery, Sevenoaks (2021)
Les Galeries Bartoux 19th Artistic Edition: Joint exhibition, Galerie Dauphin, Honfleur (2019)
Variations18: Group exhibition, gallery@oxo, London (2018)
Suspended Animation: Solo exhibition, The Dorchester, London (2018)
Variations16: Group exhibition, gallery@oxo, London (2016)
Moments: Solo exhibition, Cube Gallery, London (2016)
Hurricane Season: Joint exhibition, Nassau42, Antwerp (2015)
Flux: Temporal Suspense: Joint exhibition, DegreeArt, London (2015)
Variations: Group exhibition, gallery@oxo, London (2015)
Emergent: Joint exhibition, Craft Central, London (2014)
Time is Now: Solo exhibition, Strand Gallery, London (2014)
Nature in the City: Group exhibition, Menier Gallery, London, (2013)
Emerging Realities: Group exhibition, Craft Central, London (2013)
Metamorphosis: Solo exhibition, Craft Central, London (2013)
SUSTAINABILITY
Anna is committed to creating a practice which is both environmentally and socially sustainable.
In 2021, Anna redesigned the construction of the cases for her wall-based works, reducing plastic use by one third. Flower petals are sourced from sustainable flower farms within the UK, and butterflies are sourced from antique and vintage collections, or are natural death butterflies from UK butterfly houses. The watch and clock parts used in the works are recycled from broken timepieces or factory seconds. She continues to make changes to her practice to reduce the impact of the works on the environment.
Anna believes that one barrier to social sustainability is the inequitable distribution of wealth. Though a small studio, Anna has does have studio assistants. In a commitment to creating an equitable studio practice, Anna ensures that her wage is never more than 30% above that of her assistants.
As of 2022, Anna has committed to pledge 1% of profits to environmental charities, split between Butterfly Conservation (UK) and the World Land Trust (International).
