THE ARTIST

Etty Anderson is a multi disciplinary queer and trans artist whose main focus is in the ceramic arts. Etty’s knowledge base stems from their diverse learned skills and experiences outside of a traditional academic framework. A varied background in Anarchist ideology, community-driven experiences, independent research, and cooperative learning led Etty to develop a distinct and evolving art practice inspired by classical aesthetics, subversion, anti-capitalism and queerness. 

Etty’s sculptures evoke the relationship between pop culture, nostalgia, consumerism and class and how queerness offers a particular perspective on these threads. Etty ponders what happens when the digital world falls away and all that is left is ceramic and plastic? How would their (and the collective: our) queer world be perceived in an archaeological context? The histories of queerness have been largely invisible and hidden, sometimes by design. Etty considers hidden queer symbols and how these cues are ever changing and key to grasping the queer archive. To create future relics from their own queer experience is to make that history tangible - to provide concrete (ceramic) evidence of a queer world that once existed and will always exist. Etty Uses mimicry of common everyday objects in the visual vein of 16th century still life paintings to subvert classical symbolism reflecting queer identity and material culture. Singular sculptures work together, weaving threads of queer histories and tactile sculpture into a tapestry of strange beauty that lies in the act of resistance and the celebration of queer and trans identities.

A 2026 runner-up for the Winifred Shantz Emerging Artist Award, and 2025 finalist for the Prix Francois Houdé and Salt Spring National Art Prize, Etty has recently shown work in New York, Waterloo, Montreal, Paris and Shanghai (upcoming). They completed a year-long Artist in Residence program at Medalta in 2025.  Etty curated and led “Queering Dirt”, a queer focused residency at Watershed in Maine in 2024. Etty is a non binary, trans, white Canadian settler who lives and works in the traditional, unceded territory of Tiohtià:ke Quebec.

Etty also runs a roving supper club {VSS} , and is a published author of Vegan Secret Supper: Bold and Elegant Menus from a Rogue Kitchen. Etty has opened, curated and directed an artist run space in Vancouver, as well as being active as an illustrator, photographer and musician.  

YYY

YYY is the brand behind the artist’s functional practice.  Ever changing, YYY’s current work plays with coloured porcelain, pieces wheel thrown and hand built with nerikomi pattern. Each piece is unique and varies from the next. YYY focuses on clean organic forms with a strong focus on color.