Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexia López Sosa.
Hi Alexia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up with my parents being architects so since I was very little I often went to their studio; it was a kids’ paradise! There were all kinds of drawing materials & papers, cardboard, things to cut & glue, and lots of samples of construction material –wood, brick, blocks, paint…– with my brothers, we were building things all the time, it gave us so much creative freedom.
A lot of who I am today comes from my childhood, I can see vestiges of the road trips to my grandparent’s house, the tree climbing, playing around my great-grandfather’s garden full of exotic flowers & ferns, drawing in all the hidden parts of furniture, the amazing fort building skills of my brothers, my aunt’s poetry. I guess many parents would have yelled at their kids for so many of the things we did –starting with drawing on the walls & chairs– but ours were really encouraging our creativity & curiosity.
I always thought I was going to become an artist. Just about to enter the university, I did wonder whether I should study something different (I have a huge interest in medicine as well) but in the end, I went for Visual Arts.
I did my studies at the Arts University of Aguascalientes, my hometown. It was a small University build on the old, abandoned train workshops, it was fun, there was a building for dance careers, one for theater, us, and very random, one for kids (little kids) preparing to be bullfighters. I loved so much to sneak into the dance classrooms & draw the people. These years I learn a lot especially from observing the artistic process of others & the conversations!
There is not a moment in which I started being an artist, I think I was on that slide from the beginning. Step by step, I’m becoming more & more professional in my practice. Today I work with two art galleries –one in Paris, France & one in Colima, Mexico– and I have participated in more than 30 collective and solo exhibitions, with my art shown in Mexico, France, and Argentina.
Contests have been important in my development as an artist, I have been lucky with them since I was young & I think the awards I have won represented an important push forward for my visibility, they opened doors with galleries, collectors, and even friendships.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Managing my emotions is the hardest, this job it’s completely unsteady, and that can get frustrating in some moments; as an artist, you have to be constantly applying for exhibitions, awards, and galleries and sometimes you’ll be selected but most times you won’t & it can be easy to get disappointed, also the income it’s not constant, so in general even if it’s amazing to be an artist it does require patience & resilience.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a maximalist, deeply in love with nature, especially jungles, so my art is bright & colorful. I do botanical art, but fictional, it is very expressive & has a big surreal side. I also draw a lot of chairs & sofas. I do work that makes me feel happy or excited when I look at it!
In terms of technique, I focus mainly on painting, sculpture & printmaking, but it depends on each particular project; sometimes I add collage or embroidery, sometimes I like to “cook” my own painting, textile media has been attracting my attention lately.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.singulart.com/en/artist/alexia-lópez-sosa-16013?ref=ts
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/greenlexia
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/greenlexia/
