Ana Sofia Castanho is a Portuguese ceramic artist based in Lisbon, whose work delicately navigates the intersections of memory, femininity, and ancestral echoes. Born in ‘83 and raised between Lisbon's suburbs and the northern Italian landscapes of Venice and Bergamo, Castanho's artistic identity is rooted in a dual cultural heritage that profoundly informs her creative practice.

Originally immersed in design and advertising, Ana transitioned toward ceramics in 2020, cultivating a personal visual language where mythology, history, and introspective observation intertwine. Influenced by her early exposure to Italian art and her father’s classical teachings, her work distills these rich cultural narratives into tactile forms.

Her ceramics, often heavy yet gentle, embrace deliberate imperfections, embodying a poetic tension between fragility and strength. Through organically sculpted shapes and paint-like glazes, Castanho’s pieces evoke physical and emotional recollections, resonating deeply with personal and collective experiences of femininity, transformation, and growth. Each work feels like an intimate encounter — an ancient yet living body, quietly breathing between shadow and light, echoing timeless stories in contemporary clay.