MUNTHE ART MONDAY: ALEXA GRAMBUSH
Please introduce yourself and tell us about what you do.
My name is Alexa Grambush, and I was born and raised in Michigan, loving the Great Lakes
and the time I spent living with my sisters on a boat in Traverse City. My innate sensitivity
to space and dynamics, both interpersonal and aesthetic, informs my creative interactions
which center most in watercolor and acrylic painting work. My artistic expressions are
guided by my deeply held values of truth and sincerity, and my desire to see the sacred in
the everyday.
Alexa is wearing Fortunato shirt and Ursa skirt.
Can you name some other female (artist) that inspires you and explain why they do so?
Lately, Yuko Nishikawa keeps me on the edge of my seat. Allowing myself to submerge in
her work, which is so different from my own, fuels and inspires my creativity. I love her
really dimensional constructions and sculptural pieces. I love the way she presents
something whimsical which evokes the familiar while transporting with wonder. Her work
is restful and energizing. Organic and wholly unfamiliar. Simple and complex.
Could you explain more about how being a woman has affected your career?
As I move through the world, ‘truth’ and ‘sincerity’ persist in capturing my attention. I
want to pursue and draw near to them, and I have a deep awareness of their presence
or absence in relational and presentational spaces. If there is one and not the other of
either, I find hard ground that challenges the ability for trust, openness, or vulnerability
to grow. I deeply desire to navigate the world and relationships with a heart posture of
sincerity, and a resilient, humble pursuit of the truth; A harmony between what I
believe and how I behave. Every circumstance, every interaction, every opportunity
that crosses my path contributes to my history and existence as a person, as a woman,
and my attentiveness to truth and sincerity has impacted my desire to pursue a career
in fine art, and helped to guide my decisions as I have progressed through my career.
What would you like people to notice in your artwork?
My work attempts to approach and explore the absolutely corporeal, binding experience
of being alive and the deeply mysterious nature of being so through abstract expressions.
My practice is tied to my perception that the world is complex, miraculous, and full of
wonder, and is generally twofold: a longing to make sense of this collision of tenderness,
grief, joy, and mystery, and a desire to offer outwardly a place to rest that is safe, gentle,
and compassionate.
My approach is observationally driven, watchfully motivated, and thoughtfully attentive to
those perceptions within and without. I indulge in the complex, and rest in distilled
simplicity.
Shapes and movements are journals of emotion, memory, reflection, observation, and
thought. What I hope to express, and what comes with incorporating the unexpected, the
mundane, and the mystery is that our world, and life are much more full of the miraculous
than even the imagination could hope to beget.
What has been the most challenging aspect of being a woman in the arts?
I believe that as each individual has the potential to offer something of goodness and
healing to the world, shaped by their own strengths and gifts, female visual makers are
capable of uniquely giving similarly distinctive contributions and offerings through their
work.
I think that what one feels particularly burdened by, or interested in, or a surge of
compassion toward may be revelatory of the role she is meant to play through her visual
work. Women through history have found outlets for their expression in addressing those
callings of compassion. The challenge of identifying the points of need or pain that rend
my heart, and finding a way to move toward them with an offer of hope through my own
means presents a constant challenge in my work—I think that challenge will be lifelong in
a way that I want to welcome.
Alexa is wearing Fortunato shirt and Ursa skirt.
