About the Artist

My work is a reflection of the way light and space shape the world around us, capturing fleeting moments of color, texture and atmosphere. Primarily working in landscape and still-life, I create immersive, multidimensional compositions that invite the viewer to step into the scene. I seek to evoke the specific qualities of light—the way it shifts and transforms throughout the day, casting both soft and dramatic shadows that reveal hidden depths of color.

My approach is grounded in the traditional methods of painting, but I strive to push the boundaries of texture and space through a contemporary lens. I intentionally avoid using black in my palette, instead creating chromatic dark tones by mixing colors, allowing for subtle shifts in temperature and a more atmospheric effect. Each brushstroke contributes to the tactile quality of the painting, drawing the viewer deeper into the layers of light and shadow and inviting them to experience the scene in a visceral way.

Through my work, I hope to evoke a sense of connection—to the land, to the fleeting moments of everyday life, and to the quiet power of nature. My goal is not only to capture what is seen, but to communicate a feeling, a sense of the place, and the way light, texture and color bring that place to life.
--Alexandra Bailliere

BIO

Bailliere holds an MFA in visual art from Mills College, a BA cum laude in French from Duke University with extensive coursework in visual art and art history, and a post-bac in visual art and design from UC Berkeley. While on a Duke junior year abroad in Paris, she studied art history at the Université de Paris and painting at the Académie de Port-Royal. Bailliere spent a high school semester at the Cleveland Institute of Art in Lacoste, France where she focused solely on drawing and painting. While in grade school, she attended Saturday high school drawing classes at the Maryland Institute College of Art in her hometown of Baltimore. She has been drawing and painting since the age of six when her favorite place to be was seated at a small yellow table in her bedroom, painting, drawing, creating puppets from paper mâché or making collages.

In addition to sustaining an active studio practice, Bailliere is an adjunct professor of art at Contra Costa College where she teaches drawing and painting.

Bailliere's work has been presented at the Mills College Art Museum, the Worth Ryder Gallery at UC Berkeley, the Berkeley Art Center, the Palo Alto Art Center and the Five Points Arts Gallery in Torrington, Connecticut, among other venues. Bailliere was a recipient of the Being Human residency at the Palo Alto Art Center in 2018, and in 2016, she was a finalist for a residency fellowship at the Headlands Center of the Arts. Her 2022 painting "Look Up!" was the subject of a long-term outdoor public art installation in downtown Mill Valley, California from October 2022 through March, 2023 and is now part of the permanent collection of The Redwoods. She recently completed a large-scale commission that is be part of the new Citizens Bank private client office in the SF Bay Area. Her work is included in many private collections and the following corporate collections:

Brown Advisory
Chicken and Egg Pictures
Citizens Bank
Green17 Design
among others.

Bailliere's work is represented by Hang Art in San Francisco. Please direct inquiries to info@hangart.com.

Portrait photo credit to Anne Sherwood.