Verbalize it in a letter and it'll be clear

express it in words because if you don't speak for you, someone else will

Dec 17, 2021

Letter from the studio

The email below was sent on November 16, 2020. My fiancé and I had spent a week down in Virginia. I wasn’t certain how to write about my art process. So, I sent an email to Maggie McEvoy.

So what?

I wrote the email because I wanted a writing exercise to get out of my own head. I am attracted to language and writing because I love being able to translate complex ideas and concepts into simpler terms that everyone could understand.

Maggie is not everyone. She is, however, one of my best friends.

There are a few confidants in my support network I like to share my processes with. A support network to bounce off ideas and share your struggles with is fruitful.

At the time I wrote the email, there were two months remaining on the lease for my Brooklyn apartment. I knew I wanted to get out of New York. A change of pace is the prescription I wrote for myself. Plus, I wanted more greenery. I was also confident to leave my full time job, even without another job lined up.

Coffee grounds being filtered

I filtered my thoughts like I filter my coffee because if I can verbalize my process, then maybe I’ll feel more real as an artist. Like, how many fucking times do I need to read tutorials on how to craft a CV or how to write an artist statement. 1

The email is below.

Good morning Maggie,

Artist statements are weird. I’m writing a Casual Letter of what I do in my studio. And when I say studio, I'm talking about the desk in the bedroom. Or the dining room, which is the dedicated art room.

It’s an exercise I’ll share with you so I can be better in describing to strangers the art I make.

This could also be fun because if you want to do this exercise, maybe you can share with me “what you've been up to in the studio”.

Even if the writing and artmaking is on pause, feel free to share with me reflections on what artmaking you’ve done so far.

The images I shared on Instagram the final two weeks of October are a result of me meditating on how to be gentler with myself.

The text is advice I wish I said to myself a year ago so I won't be so wound up with G.A.D. Side note, the S.A.D. is fucking real because daylight savings is over. but! I cope! I hope you're coping, too.

the text, why is taking care of yourself?, superimposed on a background — *why is taking care of yourself*

the text, considered a radical act, superimposed on a gradient background. — …*considered a radical act?*

Jenny Holzer had an influence on me. Tumblr had an influence on me, too. The visual mood of the images I’ve made are understated, maybe gentle, maybe nurturing.

How it goes down: I’ll open a new file in Adobe Photoshop. The second dialog window will prompt me to type in pixel dimensions. And, I’ll choose a background color. It depends on my mood.

pink
aquamarine
orange
heliotrope??
puce???

Those are colors I will fuck around with.

I add a layer on top of another layer, and it repeats. The typeface is deliberate. I don’t want the text to convey the voice of a know-it-all smartass. The voice of the text is soft; the voice is curious and asks, “have you thought of it this way instead?”.

It’s a non-judging voice.

I want these images to live in zines or posters soon. We’ll catch up and I can tell you about Richmond and you can tell me about life <3

Wow it’s 1:51a. That definitely means you’re awake. Or not?

archive and sent with affection not infection,

Alexander