Alexandra Barao

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Alexandra Barao makes functional wood fired pottery, often incorporating wild clay and local materials. She is drawn to quiet forms and surfaces that allow space for the flame to leave its mark, highlighting the tones and textures of the material as much as the marks of my own hands. Alexandra finsd inspiration in historical pots, geological formations, and the landscapes that surround her.

Alexandra Barao is a potter and educator based in Western North Carolina. She was born and raised in Virginia and received her BFA in Sculpture + Extended Media at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2010. She then spent a decade in the San Fransisco Bay Area learning, teaching, and building community through clay. Since returning to the Southeast in 2022, she has been exploring new connections to this craft in a region where its history is deep and rich. She has been an artist in residence at Cub Creek Foundation in Virginia and Township 10 in Marshall, North Carolina, and has taught workshops on atmospheric firing at The Oki Doki Studio and the Clay Studio of Missoula.