The hello’s!

My name is Alcira “Alley Cat”. I’m a queer Mexican-American artist, mainly working in clay. I’m born and raised in San Bernardino. I love leaving my heart in the making and breathing life into the clay.

I love using contrasting clays, typically a rich red or brown clay and a white clay. I use them together to convey my double nationality and heritage. I focus on making mugs and other tableware objects because of their role in bringing a person, not only together with others, but to the present moment. A time when someone can pause, reflect, connect, and be.

I learned to convivir en familia around the table, exchanging stories, chisme, and tears, which now translates to connecting around a worktable in a studio.

On the surface of my pieces, I use gradients to show the colors of the sky and carve our common relative, nature, inspired by the surrounding diversity in San Bernardino on the surface. A piece that I hope bring warmth in the palms of your hands.

The process itself is a healing practice that allows me to connect with my roots, face my fears, meditate, and feel at home within myself.

My work often changes, but one thing is for sure, everything is always made with the heart.