Anna Thorell was born in Sweden in 1950 and studied in the late 60s at Carl Malmsten's School of Art and Design. The training had its roots in Scandinavian craft traditions combined with modernism.
Moving to England in the late 70s and studying ceramics at Goldsmiths College gave her the opportunity to experiment with new ideas and materials.
Bachelard's "The Poetics of Space" has been an important source of ideas:
"Our sense of space is organised around two distinct poles, one attracting us to the vertical, compelling us to seek the power and rationality of the tower view and the other to the enclosed centre".