Alex'N | Contemporary Artist: Artworks & Biography

Alex'n grew up in the Cevennes and was raised in an artistic atmosphere. All family members practised an artistic discipline from a very young age. She participated in theatre with her mother, drawing with her father and studied music. Interested in fashion and textiles she studied fashion design, while painting at the same time. When she was 20 she worked as graphic designer in textiles, combining her love of fashion and drawing. It took several years before she would assert herself as an artist and in 2007 she decided to devote herself full time to painting. She then turned to a career as an artist. Beyond merely creating reliefs, she wanted to tell stories.\n After a long search for her style by testing various techniques (charcoal, ink, oils) she found her influences in ‘Street Art’ and ‘Outsider Art’. She sees in these unclassifiable art movements an echo of her imagination and of her desire to express her emotions. Alex’n first strengthened her mastery of all the techniques and styles before feeling ready for ‘Art Brut’. \n In 2002, she imagined her ‘pebble men’ – stylized characters with square heads. She wanted to create a character that would evolve over time. On a sombre acrylic background Alex’n uses only oil pastels in order to mix the colours directly on the background. Then come the collages that give life to her works. The final varnish seals the scene. She invents families of characters, clumsy animals that allow her to tell scenes inspired by daily life where humour and poetry mingle. The human characters allow everyone to easily identify with the works. The animal scenes are intended to push humour to the absurd. \n Beyond the stories, Alex'n’s work offers primarily a work of materials and colours.