Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexis Mixter.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Alexis. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
When I was little my family seemed to me to be just naturally surrounded by art and music. We existed in a space that I viewed, even as a little kid, as artistic, open and creative. I knew, even if subconsciously at first, that this was the space I felt most comfortable living within. I wanted to be surrounded in that creative energy forever, so all that I’ve ever done has been in an effort to make my life an artistic creation in itself.
When I was in high school in Connecticut, I rebelled somewhat against the way we are taught to view art and being an artist and, looking back now, I think I never stopped doing that. I felt frustrated by the idea that humans are divided up into artistic people and non-artistic people pretty early in life just because an adult sees something that they (as an adult) “like”. That’s absurd. We are, each and every one of us, creative. The two things to note are that we are not all good at what we want to do right off the bat and not all creativity will express itself in expected ways. Most of us need a lot of practice! Many people would say they aren’t creative at all but then you look at their lives and see that they do beautiful things like decorate their home, garden, cook gorgeous cakes or build things that are both useful and wonderful to look at. That’s art!
All of this is to say, that my life is creative as a whole because I have always viewed it this way. My art is just an extension of that. I started with photography, moved on to drawing and painting in college and then when I graduated, I started experimenting (for years) with what I actually wanted to do. I wasn’t one of those people who as a child I sketched trees obsessively and now as an adult, I paint elaborate trees for a living. I’ve never followed a linear path, I’ve sort of wandered through the world trying things until at some point I hit on what I do now and fell in love.
About four years ago, I hit a wall and got frustrated and bored with all I’d been doing. I decided to just make some things for myself. I wanted to have fun. I pulled out an old wood-burning kit I’d had forever and started working on some wood panels I had around. There was no going back after that. The process of making art has always been the most important part of it all for me and this process just filled me with satisfaction. It’s slow and methodical and appeals to my obsession with tiny details. It uses natural materials and smells like a mellow campfire. The fact that right from the start people responded positively to what I was making was just the icing on the cake that I’d already decided was my future.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not! More than it being a bumpy road it was a long and winding one. Picture Lombard Street in San Francisco but years in length. I think the biggest “bump” in the road was my college experience but it was also the time I needed to convince myself I could, potentially, take myself seriously as an artist. I absolutely hated how ridged things then felt to me though. I hated that nobody ever asked me what I WANTED to create. What I LOVED to do. I was in New York City and I felt like there were only two paths to go down. I could make huge, elaborate, polished and potentially expensive art or I could make art that would never see the light of day and I’d work a job I hated forever to survive. Where was the artistic electricity of the 1970s? Where was the messy, self-destructive freedom of Basquiat and the weird wonderfulness of Klaus Nomi? I had to dig for it and then create it where it wasn’t to be found.
For a few years post-college, I was co-owner of an art space collective that filled me with a bit of what had been missing but was also so all-consuming that I didn’t create much art of my own in that time. I partied and didn’t sleep. I wandered the city and all its museums and galleries. I surrounded myself with some of the weirdest most wonderful humans I could find in a city that was pushing out its creative underbelly before my eyes. When that became a fight that didn’t seem winnable, I moved to Los Angeles and started wandering around in the desert and mountains looking for another kind of freedom. I feel like I found it here. I found a place where whatever you are working on or working towards, there is space for it.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I’m an artist working in the medium of pyrography, which literally means “writing with fire”. It dates back to ancient Egypt and Africa when artists used tools heated in a fire to burn into wood, leather and other natural materials. Pyrography is typically associated with folk art across Europe as well as nature crafts in the United States. I always thought it was a very cool method of making an image but had only ever seen it used to make things like huge pictures of eagles on a slice of wood. I had just never encountered the medium outside the folk/craft circle. Which is awesome but just not where I exist most of the time.
I tried pyrography out of frustration with drawing and painting on a blank white canvas. It evolved from that and I realized I loved it because I’d never seen anything like what I was making before. That is probably the most exciting thing you can stumble upon as an artist. I’m proud that I found myself loving to make something that, when I finally showed people, they loved too!
Recently I’ve created a collection based on the female form and the power of the female body. This new work has given me an even more exhilarating direction to go in and I’m thrilled that it took off from the moment I put it out there. I’m working really hard at making these pieces right now because the response was so overwhelming and it feels like a direct reflection of what I’m seeing unfold around me in the world.
I want to create something that people can stare at for a long time over years and always see something new and fascinating. I’m also extremely excited that within this medium I’ve come up with a lifetime of ideas for the future. The evolution I have seen in my work and what I can see unfolding in front of me is such an exciting gift from the universe.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment so far was traveling across the country with my work to show in upstate New York alongside some of my absolute favorite makers. People who create in the sphere that I’ve always admired most. There was potters and furniture makers and weavers and… me! This was a world of creative people that I’d long put on a pedestal because I love the feeling of seeing someone’s work and thinking “oh my gosh I wish I’d thought to make that it looks so beautiful and fun!” And there I was, watching people interact with my work (that I’d only just begun to make) and saying exactly that. It gave me a huge boost and set the foundations for where I see myself going in the future.
For those interested, the show is called Field & Supply and is something everyone should try and visit if they can! More information here: http://www.fieldandsupply.com/
Contact Info:
- Website: https://alexismixter.com/
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/gonzoaesthetic
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/AlexisMixterArts
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/gonzoaesthetic
Image Credit:
Aaron Guy Leroux, Sarah Van Liefde
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