ART OF XAN

My current focus is giving life to man made objects by using recycled materials, fabrics, fiberglass and the human body in an exploration of color, weight, movement, density and structure. The resulting pieces are speculative rather than historical, reflecting the sleek, fast, technological work that draws us in, toward the future.

Alexandra Underhill grew up in Elmira, NY and came to Cleveland to attend the Cleveland Institute of Art, from which she graduated with honors in 1993. In the years since, she has continued to expand her professional career in sculpture and jewelry, as well as in the theater arts, in set design, costuming and installation. Alexandra has worked, lived and traveled through Africa, Asia, Micronesia, The Middle East, and Central America, and her conscious integration of foreign experience, rhythms and religions is reflected in her works.

He current work is an amalgam of memories and dreams, providing a visual dichotomy between heavy, succulent, reptilian, coral-like surfaces and soft, sandy, mummified forms.

My materials are my tools. They teach me about the wisdom of inter-connections.- says Alexandra.

She offers the viewers a cornucopia of retinal and visceral experiences via the emphasis placed on the synergy that occurs between the materials and the processes utilized. This is achieved through the marriage of diverse, often organic materials (such as African porcupine quills, sand, bronze screen, cinnamon sticks, rubber, avocado shells, tissue paper, and wire) and the unique transitions between them, using a wide range of processes (such as electroforming, drilling, repetitive stitching and edging, and painting).

According to Alexandra ? Travel has undeniably shaped the evolution of my work. I gravitate towards underdeveloped countries as I find their ways of life and topographies less synthetic and less jaundiced by the effects of progress. Immersing myself in foreign cultures with different languages and different rules, forces me to confront myself, and to rely on alternative means of survival. It enables me to study rhythm on many levels, to see the inter-relationships with greater clarity, and to be enlightened by nature, time and time again. The resolution of each piece I create always entails finding a visual, emotional and spiritual balance.