Bio…
As a re-emerging artist, Alexandra Linden would argue that time, and its companion, experience, have helped enable the evolution of her sculptural vessels, portraits and functional ‘artware’. Her works emanate a quiet maturity and an obsession with honing her craft, often resulting in immense and voluminous forms representative of her connection with the feminine Evident in her work is a sense of play with texture, balance, strength & fragility, and a detailed, curious nature.
Receiving an Advanced Diploma in Applied and Visual Arts with a ceramics major (North Adelaide School of Art, 1999) followed by an Honours Degree in Fine and Visual Arts majoring in drawing and painting (University of South Australia, 2002), Alexandra places a high value on technique and education, evident in the careful, fastidious nature of her practice. Weaving her artistic calling through her career as an educator (Bachelor of Secondary Education, University of South Australia, 2003) Alexandra always preferred to teach via the tangible mediums of writing, painting and creation, working later in marketing roles where she created eye-catching illustrations, designs and labels for some of McLaren Vale’s most recognised wineries.
2021 was a year that brought change, challenge and clarity to Alexandra as she found herself irrevocably drawn back to the studio, a space where she feels innately herself as she creates. While she would consider herself unattached to any particular medium, her current artistic exploration resides in the tactile medium of ceramics; a grounding material, reinforcing the sense that she is returning home to herself. In clay she finds strength and versatility, embracing the joy of using an organic, primitive tool for expression and functionality, forming a conduit between earth and gravity while bringing structure and aesthetic to an amorphous medium.
Alexandra creates a line of functional and ornamental wares which can currently be found at The Jam Factory Adelaide and Fleurieu Arthouse McLaren Vale. She is building multiple bodies of work to exhibit and is regularly commissioned to create individualised, bespoke pieces.
Artist Statement…
I started creating art around the same time I started talking…it’s an integral part of my language and ability to communicate. I can often draw, create or gesticulate things with more fluidity than I can say it!
My inspiration is an largely unconstrained and comes in different forms depending on my current life situation; the innate strength on the feminine and elements of the natural world and our biological environment are core drivers. A common thread that has weaved its way through my creative journey from my early painting and drawings, and is now evident in my ceramic works, is movement, or the illusion of it. I feel compelled to capture an essence of it, just a fragment or suggestion that eludes to a greater picture. I’m fascinated by innate objects that convey a story, that nudge you to consider the moments before and after.
When I create I will always consider texture, light, shadow, gravity, line, functionality, and begin the process by setting an intention which may be born of a memory, a concept, an emotion, or a need. I’m becoming increasingly drawn to and fascinated by the subtle elements life presents when you’re quiet, observant and curious. It has taken many years and a lot of mindful soul searching to quiet my mind enough to hear and see those subtleties. The things that may have always been there and are now seen through contemplative, more seasoned eyes. The unspoken.
I don’t feel bound by any one medium, and clay is currently speaking my language. I’m exploring ways to challenge myself and the medium, a constant push and pull, finding I feel ‘at home’ creating with this humble, grounding medium.
