Director's Note

Bellevue, WA

B.F.A. University of Washington, Seattle, WA (2010), born 1986

About the Artist

As I started to wrap of my research for potential artists for the MadArt in the Park project, I came across Alex.  I have known Alex since the time he was an undergraduate art student at the University of Washington.  He was helping fellow MFA students on a few  of the projects I was organizing.  Alex is tall and lanky at 6’ 3,” and very soft-spoken. His roots are in Bellevue, WA, and because of this, he is very familiar with the Northwest environment in which we live.   He has an eye for composition, design and balance.  This is augmented by a practical mind that allows him to sketch and configure forms out of ordinary construction materials such as 2 x 4 planks.  The end results are sculptures that resemble nothing of their original geometry.  They become the essence of a biomorphic movement, much like a vine growing on a wall.  His work harmonizes well with urban elements, and he doesn’t hesitate to take it large scale.  

When I shared concern that his busy teaching assignment at Pilchuck Glass School (along with other sculpture projects in Bellevue) would affect his ability to participate in our MadArt in the Park project, he quickly put me at ease.  Alex has the ability to think big and realize pragmatically.  His approach is direct, and before you know it, he is sketching a chalk drawing on the concrete floor.  By my next visit to his garage studio, he had created a three-dimensional rendering already in place.  I liken it to an expressive pen gliding over paper.  Smooth indeed!

Park Bench  Featured Installation for MadArt in the Park

I want to make a bench that makes us feel nature in an entirely different way.  Curved and undulated.  You first see it as a landscape, and then unconsciously are invited to embrace it.  Perhaps you sit down on it.  You are then allowed to see the surroundings in a way you have never done before.   Are you seeing it now?