Artist Interview: Alex Alexander
I was so excited to interview Alex Alexander, a D.C. born, Baltimore-based creative with an impeccable attention to detail and understanding of her place in the world. We discussed her multi-hyphenated artistic practice, her creative influences, and how even though COVID-19 has slowed down the planet, how all creativity and productivity have seasons and her season is inevitably coming again.
1. Tell us a bit about your artistic journey and how it began?
When I was in middle school, close family and mentors discovered that I had a natural flair for the arts with a notable interest in creative writing and painting. I went on to attend The Duke Ellington School of the Arts where I then studied printmaking and painting with a minor focus in literary and theatrical studies. Somewhere around my senior year, I was given an old Pentax SLR camera and quickly became obsessed with the world of black and white darkroom photography. I was told I was quite good at it. -not just good for someone working with only partial sight but particularly good as someone who understands the intricacies of composition while exhibiting innovative manipulation of the medium. This inspired me to major in fine art photography at MICA where I worked to merge the realms of poetry and image making; the two worlds that welcomed me into the arts in the first place.
2. Why do you make art?
I make art because the process forces me to experience and analyze the passing of time in a manner slightly more elevated than idly existing in it. The way I aim to show up in the world is through art. Some people don’t know my name but they remember an image I captured or a poem that I wrote and that matters to me. I think it would be selfish if I didn’t make art, if I didn’t leave some sort of evidence that I survived, that I loved, that I lived or that I attempted to make it all make sense.
3. I know that you are really excellent/intentional about your use of social media. Do you consider it an extension of your artistic practice?
Yes, I do. Although I am far from having that little blue check mark next to my handle, I do however view social media as a way to stay involved/ connected with other artists who also choose to share in this way. My Instagram account has been, in essence, a rapidly expanding portfolio. -A continuous thread of imagery that vividly traces my nature. I'm always shooting. Some days I shoot to post, on others I simply shoot to remember what occurred in a days time. These seemingly mundane captures serve as notes I take for future me in the event that I forget how I showed up, what I consumed, who I saw, what we wore, how the light landed in a particular space and so forth. If any of it happens to make it on the gram, then hooray for me.
4. Who are your greatest artistic influences?
Photographer John Dugdale was one of my first photographic influences. He’s also a queer, sight-compromised photographer whom I had the pleasure of meeting and sharing my story with some time ago. The way he has triumphed through obstacles in order to still make art will forever be an inspiration to me. Not to mention his cyanotype work is incredibly beautiful, haunting even. I also enjoyed the work of Edward Weston, particularly his nudes. My earliest work was heavily influenced by these two men but I must say my greatest artistic influence, regardless of our respective canvases is Frida Kahlo. The harrowing story of her life and her willingness to remain a creative spirit until the day she died should be an influence to anyone who has ever wanted anything bad enough. Every force that ever worked against her, even her own failing physical body, became the foundation upon which she stood tallest. Her work is sheer testament to the unyielding strength of a woman who wanted more than the world was willing to give her. I am her and she is me.
5. What is your favorite body of work/exhibition that you have worked on?
For a little over 5 years, I made primarily photo-narrative art. My subjects were all extremely close to me and these immensely intimate relationships led to some of the most beautifully honest storytelling I have ever rendered. I was humbled and forever changed by the work. I was showing briefly for about a year. In and out of small galleries giving artist talks and breaking up the series as curators saw fit. I eventually turned the body of work into two books entitled, “The Awakenings” and “Nudes of the Awakenings”. This is where I most articulately melded the worlds of literary and photographic art, paring imagery with accompanying prose. These works challenged everything I thought I knew about being a writer who also took photographs that seldom depend on language to relay their meaning. There was a proper balance achieved here. Certainly some of my favorite work.
6. Any events, shows, or projects coming up you'd like to share with the readers?
Unfortunately, at the moment, there are no dates worth sharing nor are there projects developed enough to mention. Due to COVID and non-COVID related matters, I have seemingly failed to regain my footing in the art world. Yet regardless of that backing or lack thereof, I have still managed to keep busy shooting for myself and for a handful of faithful clients as well as performing poetry on virtual platforms streamed worldwide.
7. We are strong believers that the more people discuss failure or setbacks, the less significant the possibility of it becomes. In our society, we are so terrified of the possibility of something not working out, that it halts all our efforts to begin with. We ask all of our interviewees if they can share a time where something (a project or opportunity) did not work out and how did you move forward?
I truly believe that failures and setbacks are an integral part of the process. In most cases they build tremendous amounts of character, the kind of character that doesn’t come from having everything handed to you or made easy. Though I can’t think of one specific setback, I can honestly admit that these last few years, even prior to the pandemic, have been some of the slowest and least productive years of my career. I began to measure my worth as an artist, as a woman and as a human being upon the number of shows, appointments and meetings I had written down in my schedule. I felt that if I wasn’t well known then I was unknown and therefore a useless contributor to the art world. I watched as people with far less experience and tact get ahead of me solely based on who they knew and how much fraudulent bullshit they were willing to force upon peoples palates. This type of thinking almost crippled me and my will to create completely. I even took a few months off and did absolutely nothing but fester in my bitterness. And then shortly after that hiatus, the world shut down. I just couldn’t catch a break. If all of this has taught me anything it’s that we shouldn’t glorify “busy” the way that we do. I had to stop gauging my self worth by the growth and advancement of others. It made me small, very small. I had to do away with a lot of toxic thought patterns and do the one thing that has always come naturally while keeping me grounded and sane and that is create. My season will come around again. I’m still young and time is long. So while I can, and with all that I have, I’ll keep this lens focused and a pen ready to record whatever happens next.
Bio
Alex Alexander is a Washington DC native, born February 14th 1988. After graduating from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Alexander received her Bachelors in Fine Art Photography from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2010. She currently resides in Baltimore living as a full-time visual and performance artist.
Though the visual arts have always been a thriving focus for Alex Alexander, her heart has forever belonged to poetry in all of its forms. As an alumna of the Brave New Voices/ DC slam team (2004-07) Alexander has transformed her love of performance poetry into a Baltimore-based venue that she calls, The Bolton Hill Open Mic Series. It is a stylishly orchestrated, monthly performance showcase of notable local talents that takes place every third Friday of the month in the Bolton Hill neighborhood of downtown Baltimore.
Today, with well over a decade of exploration in the arts, Alex Alexander continues to broaden her visual horizons by combining her first love of the literary arts with the medium of fine-art photography. This, accompanied by a particular focus on portraiture, with an exquisite eye for composition and striking subject matter all accumulates to what she calls "photo-poetics". Upon graduating from MICA Alex completed two visual triumphs entitled "The Awakenings" and "Nudes of the Awakenings"; fine art catalogues where poetry and photography collide.
In these collections of work, she brings to the forefront matters of sexuality, racial sensitivities, emotional loss and gain and visual stories of ones defiance against the odds. Her art does not shy away from truth. It revels in existentialist overtones not burdened by any overwhelming need to be safe or gentle with its viewer. Alexander's rawness comes not only from an innate desire to push and bend the realms of visual thinking but from a physical depletion of vision that occurred at birth. Alex Alexander was born with only partial sight, causing her to depend majorly upon the distinction between extreme lights and darks. It is in the contrast where she finds the greater picture which is evident in her style of rendering.
Though Alex battles daily with partial sight, she has never limited her expressions to only one canvas. This ongoing story of one woman's journey through life can be summed up in several mediums. While her visual triumphs echo off walls, her lyrical compositions grace stages and speakers throughout the DMV. Her latest body of work entitled "Perfect Vision" is a recorded collection of vocal work paired with heavy hitting spoken word poetry and outstanding musical accompaniment. This album is the artists first solo spoken word project and is a testament to her strength and unyielding versatility in the arts.
In more recent years, the artist has developed a major focus on lifestyle photography and other content associated with the art of depicting everyday life in both raw and aesthetically pleasing approaches. The work is somewhat documentary, leaning towards photojournalism and is centered primarily on life from the vantage point of a queer, black, femme in her early thirties. Each capture is accompanied by writings that echo back to the artist's strong literary background. The subject matter consists of expertly composed glimpses of life at its most profound and most mundane.
Learn more about Alex’ work https://www.alexalexanderworks.com/
Follow Alex on Instagram @thehighyellabella
