Alissa Bledsoe
b. 1985 ∙ CE artist since 2009
Photo by Evguenia Shtill
Alissa Bledsoe (b. 1985) is a multi-disciplicary artist born and raised in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco. She works with an array of mediums—fabric, needlepoint, assemblage, collage, drawing, and painting; but she has a rich relationship with ceramic sculpture. This relationship began with her mother, who was also a multi-modal creative. Bledsoe is inspired by her community, often creating artwork in honor of her loved ones or celebrities she admires. Bledsoe has been a practicing artist at Creativity Explored for over a decade, her work paying homage to Black womanhood and culture.
Bledsoe is an impeccable colorist – a skill illustrated across her chosen mediums. She is known for her vibrant palettes, which she chooses to complement the tones present in her figurative works. Her sculpting process involves creating paper forms and coil-builds, which are then layered and further molded with clay. She employs this process particularly for her ceramic masks and busts, all of which depict a Black woman who has been an inspiration in her life.
In 2025, Bledsoe was commissioned by FORSITE to create a sculpture for Black Gold: Stories Untold, a large-scale exhibition exploring California Black history at the historic Fort Point. She has participated in a number of group exhibitions across northern California, including Claiming Our Space: Contemporary Art and IDD at the Petaluma Arts Center, and New Generations, Fertile Ground for the 2022 conference for the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts.
Select Exhibitions & Projects
2025
“Main Characters, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
“Black Gold: Stories Untold,” FOR-SITE, San Francisco, CA
2024
“Claiming Our Space: Contemporary Art and IDD,” Petaluma Arts Center, Petaluma, CA
2022
“New Generations, Fertile Ground,” National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, Sacramento, CA
2021
“Blackiful,” Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
“Mode Brut,” Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco, CA
2018
“Fabulate!,” Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2012
“Fabulous,” Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA