Alexis Lopez
My project is an exploration of human identity and self discovery. The images I choose to use are often simple images. Ones that are often seen on an everyday basis and in some instances could be considered storybookesque, an influenced aspect of my illustration background. The images simplicity is balanced with the complexity of the embroidery stitches and elaborate beadwork. The attention to detail draws the eyes of the viewer around the imagewhile engaging them to be in a relationship to my personal experiences. I chose to put the images on a quilted background to give an illusion of comfort and closeness, much like a favorite family heirloom blanket. The heavy blanketed feel and texture surrounded by the satin border helps mask the harsh truth that life can often bring onto our shoulders while illuminating the more positive experiences that can come from everyday lessons. The quotes are taken from personal experiences of what I find to be true. The strange and difficult journey to my own contentment. It is sharing and extremely intimate and private side to my human conditions and forces the audience to become a voyeur to my story. It shows a boldness that is worth the pain and embarassment to make a connection that someone else might be able to relate to. These are my epiphanies, much like a musician will write the words to their own experiences, mine are written with thread on fabric.
I've always been interested in the bright and shiny cheap objects as opposed to the sleek and sophisticated. I believe alot of my influences have come from similar art, such as the black bold lines and contrasting colors of a fresh tattoo or the elaborate floral patterns on Turkish potmaterials totery. Time spent in the Southwest formed an appreciation of Day of the Dead art and the patterns found in Native American art. Another major influence came from my babysitter who, when I was very young, planted the seed of needlework that would later bloom into a growing obsession in my adolescence.
The concept is a melding of old and new, the old being the lost art of embroidery, something often considered archaic and a sexist activity of obsolete form by today's standards, while the new is bringing in the contemporary images and pushing them on today's audiences. I don't want to just create images with thread, I want to create paintings with materials that I believe are under appreciated and under used by taking them to a level that has not been seen or done. I am slowly building up with experience and understanding of my materials to a more complex images and larger canvases to consistently challenge myself.
My audience isn't specified to one or two groups. The art is not political or social or sexual, it's all of them and more. Every person has struggled with their identity at one point or another. Some people such as myself have always believed that this journey was going to be a quick and easy one, that one day we would awake and know who we are. Unfortunately, that is is not always the case. My journey continues now and will always bring new discoveries and lessons. I am simply sharing my experiences with the world in hopes that a connection will be made with another individual that has been or is in the same place as I. I believe that is the ultimate discovery, that we are all humans sharing in each others lives.
