Artist Crash: Alexandra Lekias

Even experienced art critics disagree when it comes to the literal, figurative, or symbolic meaning of a piece. And that, of course, is the beauty of art—we all see something different in it! Based on our upbringings and personal experiences, a painting or drawing may whisper or scream to us. And if we just don’t get it, the picture might not say anything at all.

Born and raised in Perth, Western Australia, Alexandra Lekias is a brilliant young artist whose work has appeared in three sold-out exhibitions. A graduate of the Curtin University of Technology, Perth, her drawings have received numerous awards, prizes, and accolades for over a decade now!

Like many young artists, Ms. Lekias has a highly personal style that can be difficult to explain to the layperson. Her medium of choice is ink, although she also incorporates watercolour and draws almost exclusively on Arches paper. Each piece is incredibly intricate and takes hundreds of hours to complete by hand. These line drawings require a remarkable level of skill, since each ink mark is indelible. A single mistake could spell doom.

The subject Ms. Lekias’s art is almost always a young teenage girl. The subtext is nostalgia, especially with regard to milestone moments or rites of passage. Ms. Lekias is extremely interested in tradition and how it helps young people forge their own identities.

Another subject or theme of her illustrations is the tension inherent in these climacteric moments, which is symbolized by a large stream of polychromatic vomit. Only the artist herself knows for certain the multifarious meanings and significance of the rainbow upchuck. But it does inject a fantastical element into her illustrations, not to mention a lot of colour. (Most of her illustrations are rendered in black and white, except for the vomit.)

As an illustrator, Ms. Lekias is considered by many to be an up-and-coming Australian artist. She has now taken part in three successful shows in a row and is building an impressive resume and body of work. To review her entire collection of illustrations, please visit http://alexandralekias.com/index.php.