At the age of 17 she was admitted to London’s Hammersmith School of Art and Design from which she graduated in pottery and printmaking in 1960. A year later she gained a Diploma of Art Education from London University.

In the mid 1960s Angela, together with her husband Hylke Bakker, migrated to Australia. After travelling and working on the East Coast and also in Papua New Guinea she established a studio workshop in Fremantle. For several years Angela taught art in Perth High Schools and also exhibited in many group shows. Her first solo exhibition was held in Joan Campbell’s Beach Gallery in 1988.

Two years later the Bakkers moved to Broome where Angela re-established her workshop. She spent several years developing local stoneware clays and testing glazes to fit them after which she started producing one off pots, platters and sculptural pieces fired in a ceramic fibre top-hat kiln.

The art of Angela Bakker is distinctive and sound. Among both her peers and the public its high quality is recognised. This artist has a fine and growing reputation.

Artist’s Statement

Cattle

Growing up in Africa on a cattle farm, I saw the great herbivore herds and as a child used to model cattle from clay on the farm. Although most of the African cattle are of the Bos Taurus variety, I became fascinated by the Brahmin cattle of the Kimberley (Bos Indicus). These cattle are adapted to live in arid areas and are frequently the stock cattle of nomads that travel annually between summer and winter pastures.