Alana Rae McDowell is a self-taught ceramic artist from the unceded Sylix Territory/Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. She currently resides and creates in the unceded Sinxit Territory/Nelson area of the West Kootenays.

As a social worker providing support to survivors of power-based crimes, abuse, and violence, Alana had been seeking a creative outlet as a way to practice self-care. After just one private lesson from an established potter 4 years ago, she was hooked. She found the tactile nature of playing with clay to be compelling, and saw immediate benefits from working with the earth. Right away she felt a strong inner impulse/a calling/a conviction of divine influence to regularly work, play, and experiment with clay, so she quickly grew her practice and passionate dedication to the medium.

Her work highlights the transformative nature of clay; the therapeutic process of creating allows her to turn the stress and anxiety of modern life into bright and joyful finished pieces. For Alana, this is an empowering process which embodies our ability to heal, transform, integrate, and shape our experiences while creating vessels for our journey from darkness to light. Through her artwork, Alana playfully explores the rejection of personal/societal seriousness and mundanity. She prioritizes above all else to create functional art that evokes feelings of delight.

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