Alex Zastera (BFA 2014)

By Alex Zastera (no title or description provided)

Artist Statement

The tension between bouts of ecstasy and the crush of anxiety is where my art lies.  My paintings reflect the mental turmoil that occurs when left to my own thoughts, while the subject matter reflects the biological, social, and sexual anxieties in my life.  Coiled masses play a significant role in my body of work as a visual metaphor of self-imposed stress. My art reflects a bittersweet relationship with anxiety and the balance of restriction and release.  I experiment with notions of perforating, stabbing, puncturing, and splicing ideas and layers of medium.  The technique of sewing and cutting mimic the tense imagery in my work, but simultaneously the process of working on my pieces is repetitive and therapeutic in nature.  The thread as a drawn line in my paintings represents a physical link between the hole and the whole.  My aesthetic awakens a new world: an impenetrable jungle of contemplation and self-examination.

By Alex Zastera (no title or description provided)