Alexandra Leyre Mein's work tries to capture the everlasting battle between our unconscious desires and our intellectual self. She aims to make people question why they think, act and react as they do, as our collective memory and consciousness is in perpetual development.
The movement and tension emerging from the encounter between organic forms and clean edged shapes in her sculptures symbolize human nature and its societal/environmental interactions. The portrayed subconscious desires are seemingly coming out victorious, overgrowing the rigid mind frames. However, the unfinished aspect in her sculptures reinforces the feeling that they are still in construction and growing, but they might also be seen as being at the dawn of their decomposition. This duality is central to Alexandra's work.
To minimize the intervention of the conscious mind she sculpt directly in plaster, using a quasi-instantly setting material, shaping live-sized pieces without a fixed preliminary vision of the finalized work. The sculptures are built up in such a way that each side provides a new and unexpected perspective on the power shift,reminiscent of life.
The Dutch/Belgian artist born in 1979, in Brussels, was trained as a fashion designer at the Royal academy of Antwerp before she switched over to visual art in 2008. She was awarded several artist residencies in the world (SVA, New York; Alain Servais, Brussels; Thaillywood, Thailand). Her work has been exhibited internationally in Paris at Palais d’Iléna, in Brussels at Aeroplastics, Maison Particulière, Botanique, etc., in the New York City at the Clemente center, SVA Westside Gallery, New House Center for Contemporary Art, Anton Kern Gallery, and in Asia. Besides her sculptural practice and because the human body is of such importance to Alexandra Leyre Mein, she continues to work with dancers and choreographers. She has designed and made sets and costumes in collaboration with renowned contemporary choreographers such as Damien Jalet, Erna Omarsdóttir and Qudus Onikeku. These creations have been shown at the Palazzo Fortuny during the Venice Biennial, the festival d'Avignon, Melborne international festival, Tokyo International Arts festival and at the Louvre in Paris. Alexandra now lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.