At the heart of Alexandra Photopoulos's work is a dual fascination with objects and with bodies, and the places they intersect, conflict and rely on each other.
Sculptures constructed from upholstery materials that evoke human or animal figures blur the line between animate and inanimate forms. Others made from IKEA chairs speak about the conflict between self-expression and globalization. Pieces that suggest prostheses or severed limbs gesture toward a futile attempt to recover from trauma using the materials of nostalgia and luxury. Paintings grafting brocade or wallpaper patterns onto skin imagine design as an infection or imposition as well as an adornment. Disturbing, humorous, and aggressively polite, the pieces speak about our experiences of comfort and damage, the domestic and the uncanny, and the conflicting sensations of desire and embarrassment that circulate around our contemplation of the body and the things we live with.
Alexandra Photopoulos holds a BA in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University, and an MFA in Studio Art from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A lifetime resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts, she has exhibited locally at the Carpenter Center, the Aidekman Arts Center, Cambridge City Hall, NAVE gallery, Gallery 263, The Boston Children's Museum, Samson, and 808 Gallery.