About the Artist
"Mono no aware" is the title of a recent painting and captures the essence of my artistic practice. The phrase mono no aware (物の哀れ) is a Japanese aesthetic concept that reflects a deep, bittersweet awareness of life’s impermanence. It describes the quiet beauty—and sadness—of knowing that all things, no matter how extraordinary, are fleeting. It’s the emotion stirred by the final petals of cherry blossoms drifting to the ground. Rooted in traditional Japanese aesthetics and Zen Buddhism, mono no aware speaks to a sensitivity toward the passing nature of life and a reverence for moments as they vanish.
The fleeting quality of blooming flowers serves as a reminder of our own mortality. Their brief, brilliant existence mirrors our human experience: vibrant, beautiful, and ultimately transient. In this way, nature invites us to reflect on time, memory, and the inevitability of change.
Years ago, I spent a year teaching at two junior high schools in Japan. In spring, as the cherry trees burst into bloom, I remember my colleagues rushing to the river for "hanami", or cherry blossom viewing. Few natural events so vividly embody the ephemeral nature of beauty, and the quiet imperative to savor it while it lasts.
--Alexandra Bailliere
In a largely secular urban world, parks and gardens are easily likened to churches. There is a decorum required, a sense of the devotional, a congregation eager for the awe of the divine.
- Ginia Bellafante, The New York Times
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. Bailliere has been drawing and painting since the age of six, when she spent hours creating art at a small yellow table in her bedroom.
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 San Francisco Art Fair, Art Miami, the Mills College Art Museum, the Worth Ryder Gallery at UC Berkeley and the Berkeley Art Center, among other venues. Bailliere was a recipient of Jill Miller's (UCBerkeley professor of art practice) Being Human artist 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 work is included in many private collections and the following corporate collections:
Brown Advisory
Chicken and Egg Pictures
Citizens Bank
Freshfields Law Offices of San Francisco
Green17 Design
Mayo Clinic (Integrated Oncology Building, Jacksonville, Florida)
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.