Alexandra Ackerman

Alexandra Ackerman
Iowa City, Iowa, USA

STATEMENT

My work is inspired by folk art, aboriginal art, patchwork quilts, the midwestern landscape, and the vast diversity of plant life. I make abstract work in multiple mediums (watercolor, gouache, acrylic, collage, pencil, etc) because I’m interested in how materials interact with and contradict each other. Each piece is a record of my search for a sense of balance between order and chaos, harmony and tension.

My art process is improvisational and intuitive; my main goal is to surprise myself. I begin by cutting or tearing shapes from any available materials: found paper, fabric, failed paintings, or prints. I arrange my collage elements onto paper or wood, then respond to what is there by drawing lines connecting the collage elements or painting shapes around and over them. Fabric is a favorite material for me because it adds a tactile quality to a piece as well as evokes a sense of nostalgia.

For me, collage is synonymous with play. As with children’s play, it is very important work, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Whenever I don’t know what to do I begin with cutting and gluing. This is a gateway into the “flow” state of artmaking because I am just playing with elements that already exist. Unlike drawing or painting there is no pressure to create something from nothing.

BIO

Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Alexandra Ackerman grew up a keen observer of the natural world from a young age. She first learned to paint in the wet-on-wet watercolor style at the Waldorf School at age eight and has continued her exploration until the present, maintaining a childlike freedom in her work. Ackerman has found beauty in the places she has lived and worked including the shores of the Great Lakes, New England vegetable farms, and Minnesota flower gardens. Inspired by the vast diversity of plant life, she uses luminous color and pattern to create dynamic landscapes and biomorphic abstractions. Her paintings are intimate meditations on her physical surroundings, expressions of the pure joy and wonder of watching things grow. Focusing on the ethereal aspects of nature, her forms are evocative of leaves, seeds, eggs, sprouts, wind, and waves.

Ackerman began her studies at the Art Institute of Chicago and ultimately earned a degree in painting and printmaking at Massachusetts College of Art, where she explored a variety of mediums, often incorporating fabric and found objects into her work. She was part of the Minneapolis art and music community for nearly a decade before moving to northern Wisconsin. Ackerman now lives with her husband and two teenage kids in Iowa City, working out of her studio downtown. She has participated in solo and group shows across the country. Her work can be found in many public and private collections. She is represented at Liz Lidgett Gallery in Des Moines and Prairie Lights in Iowa City.

ARTIST CONTACT

EMAIL | WEBSITE

IMAGES