Amy Sanders de Melo is a Colombian-American artist, educator, and arts advocate based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Working primarily in ceramics, her practice explores themes of disability, identity, and healing through tactile storytelling. With both ongoing vision and hearing loss, Sanders de Melo uses Braille on clay as a way of making emotions and stories physically accessible—inviting all viewers, regardless of ability, into moments of connection and reflection.

Sanders de Melo currently resides in Tulsa and is a resident artist at Red Heat Ceramics, an artist-run, community clay studio. She received her BFA from the University of Oklahoma where she studied ceramics, sculpture, and filmmaking. Sanders de Melo has exhibited her work nationally and she is a recipient of the inaugural Emerging Artist Cohort from the American Craft Council in 2021 and The Mid-America Arts Alliance Interchange Fellowship for 2024-2025.

Artist Statement

As a ceramic artist living with progressive vision loss, I create tactile work that invites meditation and reflection. My practice is rooted in the belief that art can be a catalyst for empathy, and that we all need spaces where we feel seen, even in our grief.

The Braille on my work—often illegible to sighted viewers—intentionally creates a space of ambiguity. This mirrors my lived experience of moving through the world between disability and perceived ability. By embedding messages that are felt rather than easily read, I invite a slower, more embodied form of engagement—one that echoes my own vulnerability and the nuance of seeking access in a world where it is not always assured.

My ceramic practice now lives at the intersection of craft, care, and social engagement. What began as a personal way of coping with vision loss has evolved into a broader storytelling method intended to be felt by anyone, blind or not. Braille is a tactile way of placing emotions, convictions, and intentions directly on my ceramic work, and these pieces aim to create a home for all of us, not just some of us.