Yael Braha

BIO

Yael is an Italian-born ceramic artist of North African descent. She has been selected as a 2024 Emerging Artist by the American Craft Council, and in 2021 she received the Multicultural Fellowship Award from the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA). 

Her work has been juried into the 13th Mino International Ceramic Triennial Competition in Mino, Japan – Ceramics Design Category – where it was awarded an Honorable Mention. She has exhibited in Museums in across the United States and Japan (Lancaster Museum of Art, Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, Plains Art Museum, African American Museum, Dallas, Shigaraki-Yaki Museum) and her work is part of both Permanent and Private Collections (Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Starworks Ceramics, private collectors). 

She has been invited to participate in Gallery and Airport Shows (Clay Akar, Charlie Cummings, Companion Gallery, Atlantic Gallery, Blue Line Arts, Knoxville Airport). Her work has been featured in Magazine Publications (CREATE! Magazine, Ceramics Monthly, Make magazine). She has been awarded multiple Ceramic Artist in Residence in the United States and in Japan.

ARtist Statement

I create minimalist ceramic design objects for everyday use with bold and stylized surface patterns, tessellations, optical and geometrical illusions. Inspired by the Gestalt Theory of Visual Perception – where the mind tends to find order and logic in what the eyes see – I design abstract patterns to instigate a dialogue between form and surface, to challenge and expand perceptual assumptions when experiencing a minimalist yet complex functional design object. I integrate digital fabrication methods within my creative process, and I fire the work in wood, gas and electric kilns to advance explorations of forms, surface design, and materials research.