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The essential focus of Alex’s practice is an interest in the vitality of matter. Her work centres around the vibrancy, transformation and the enigmatic nature of materials she uses to provide an alchemical transition in her visual and gestural explorations of materiality.

 

Material   v i b r a n c y   

and the a l c h e m y  of making materials from natural resources.

 

Through the   t r a n s f o r m a t I v e   nature of the casting process, Alex’s focus has been creating moulds of natural objects. Through making a selection of tools, she casts stones and rocks in silicone to utilise in her painting and drawing practice, combining the handmade rocks with charcoal and paint in her mark making. The tools both apply paint/charcoal and remove it, leaving natural imprints on the two dimensional surface.  

 

 

I m m e r s i o n: 

particularly through on-site research trips feed Alex’s practice. Emotive feeling and her own experiences of being present in a place drive her practice and a focus on the forest is emphasised. Her canvas paintings convey the e n e r g y of the forest. 

 

 

A n I m I s m : 

‘belief in personal souls animating even what we call inanimate bodies’- Fan Cettl

 

Alex approaches this through consideration of the natural environment, and her own immersion in it. Through immersing herself in the forest, Alex surrounds herself with her subject matter and  r e s p o n d s directly. She captures the energy and vibrancy of the forest through emotive response rather than the exact representation of a tree.

Alex’s paintings are an 

A b s t r a c t I o n. 

 

Thus it is important for Alex to work onsite, get a feel for the place and to respond to the energy. Bringing this back into the studio space, it is important to hold onto the memory of place when making; bringing out subconsciously what is significant in the phenomenon and representational act of painting.

 

The bodily act of m o v e m e n t  & g e s t u r e: Through temporal restrictions, the spontaneity of mark making and the physical act of imprinting is essential to portray a sense of movement and energy. White space is highlighted in the balancing of the compositions of the work, providing areas of contrasting subtlety and drawing the eye in a fluid motion.

 

‘Paint is a cast made of the painter’s movements, a portrait of the painter’s body and thoughts’ – James Elkins

 

f r e e d o m of movement and energy gives the marks more expression and fluidity.

 

I n t e r a c t I o n

between the human body and the natural environment is emphasised in Alex’s practice, but also with other creative mediums. Through the spontaneity of mark marking, she has embarked upon a series of collaborations with sound and movement exploring this dynamic exchange of response, as an extension of her practice. Combined with holding workshops with the intent of promoting the exchange between nature and art as tools for improving wellbeing, Alex aims to achieve this through her own practice.