SEE HER WORK
OUR ESSENCE AS HUMANS
Ceramist Alejandra Almuelle conceives of the body as neither positive nor negative; it’s everything. BY FIZA KUZHIYIL
just found the formula for the perfect potion. In true artist form, she runs to find a sculpture to show exactly how she feels about every question I ask her. “Let me show you something,” she says as she leads me to her studio, “because this is freaking interesting.” She’s as giddy as a kid during show and tell. Austin-based artist Alejandra Almuelle creates collections of ceramics, each with different interpretations of the human body. In her studio, large ceramic sculptures sit on desk tops, while smaller ceramics clutter her windowsill and various shelves. On every possible surface, she displays art. Born and raised in Peru, a country with an abundance of clay, Almuelle comes from a place where people use ceramics as their main medium of artistic expression. She even spent time in the Sacred Valley of Cuzco, a hub for ceramics. Drawing from these roots, Almuelle knew she wanted to study ceramics when she moved to the U.S. in 1988.
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32 | AUSTIN WOMAN | DECEMBER 2021
“” The beauty of the slab is you can push and pull, push and pull, push and pull— play from the inside and outside at the same time.
Photos courtesy of Alejandra Almuelle.
Alejandra Almuelle moves through her home like a mad scientist who
