Keeping Up Appearances

The gorgeous work of Elizabeth Alexander has been recognized by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, with their highest fellowship award in the amount of  $7,500, in the category of Sculpture/Installation. Congratulations Elizabeth! View photos of Alexander’s “reinterpretation of space and material, a blurring of memory and imagination” at her website elizabethalexander.com

Artist’s Statement: “I am motivated by discovery, both in my studio as well as a means to captivate a viewer. As a child I searched for magic everywhere, believing that soon I too would be living the life of a fairy princess, finding enchantment at every turn. I have since realized that I am not destined for royalty but I still feel the need to create enchanted interventions with the everyday. The familiar standards of objects and space are represented but manipulated in a way that changes one’s perception from normalcy to fancy.

I use embellishment as a transformative tool, in the same way that adornment and artificiality is issued for all tales of “rags to riches.” If the shoe fits, does it really matter that the toe was severed to make it so? Beauty acts as a veil of stability and calm over the distress I allude to; pattern, color, materiality, and texture are used to seduce the viewer to appreciate something as unappealing as a flood or destroyed car. I employ decorative arts and formal aesthetics as vehicles to evoke desire, prosperity, and escapism in places typically lacking those characteristics. The final result is a reinterpretation of space and material, a blurring of reality, memory, and imagination.”

Contact Elizabeth: 

elizabeth.z.alexander@gmail.com

Studio:129 Prospect Street Gloucester, MA 01930