Anika Major

Anika Major is a Texas-born artist living in Seattle, Washington. She received her BFA in ceramics and painting from the University of North Texas in 2018. After graduating, she moved to Seattle to work at Rat City Studios where she has spent the last several years working as a studio assistant for Deb Schwartzkopf, and teaching clay classes in the greater Seattle area. She was the studio manager at Rat City Studios, and is now the studio manager at the newly opened sister studio, Rain City Clay, where she teaches and maintains a full-time studio practice. Anika combines her love of clay and figure painting in her colorful painted pots created using thrown and handbuilt methods of production. The shapes of her pots imitate the lumpiness of the human body, and her surfaces come alive with expressive and flamboyant heroines, exploring narratives of romance, individuality, and queer domestic comforts. Growing up in Texas, Anika developed an affinity for the symbolism of the feminine, overly glamorized cowgirl. Her work is currently developing larger forms and narrative vessels exploring romantic themes between cowfolks and other tender imagery.