Stella Baraklianou: Contemporary Multi-Disciplinary Artist & Researcher

Stella Baraklianou is an accomplished multi-disciplinary artist and academic whose diverse creative practice encompasses photography, sculpture, digital media, textiles, and ceramics. Born in Greece and raised in Sydney, Australia, her work is deeply influenced by personal experiences of migration and cross-cultural narratives. Currently based in the United Kingdom, she serves as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Huddersfield and an online tutor for the MA Photography at Falmouth University. Her artistic methodology, which she describes as "reversibles," explores the intersections of reality, representation, and artifice. This approach is evident in her recent focus on hand-built clay works, where she creates organic, coiled vases that pay homage to her Greek heritage while integrating contemporary digital references to chance and invisible algorithms. Stella Baraklianou emphasizes a process-led technique, favoring intuition and gestural expressiveness over rigid pre-designed sketches. This allows the material agency of the clay to guide the final form of her sculptures, which often possess raw and textured qualities. She has exhibited her work internationally, with notable projects including "Photography is Magic" at the Aperture Foundation in New York and her residency at St Petersburg. Her scholarly background includes a Practice-based PhD from Goldsmiths College London, and her research frequently delves into the philosophy of photography and the conditions of artistic production. Through her site-specific installations and immersive visual media, she investigates the ephemerality of the post-digital era, balancing the traditional craft of ceramics with the complexities of modern virtual surroundings.