Alex was born in Salmaniya Medical Complex, one of Bahrain’s three public hospitals. They were raised by their chosen family of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Middle East — whose upbringing they later poke and trod like ‘tinik’, or fish thorns. At nineteen, Alex moved from Bahrain to Mohkinstsis (Calgary), three months before the pandemic. Their current themes are ‘gigil’, an uncomfortable feeling like gritting teeth, but in constant anticipation through collage-ing, digital art, and personal archiving.
In places held by concrete
About the Artwork
Immigrants leave in pursuit of building roots in places held by concrete. Throughout the pursuit of rootedness is the fragmentation, alienation, creation and deconstruction of families, relationships, and identities.
Medium: Mixed Media and Collage
8.5 x 11 inches
2024
In places held by concrete
Alex’s Why
I create art as an act of love, joy and resistance. As an immigrant myself, in my early 20s having experienced the places that first generation immigrants need to live and survive in, I want to keep an archive of these experiences through art. Currently, I do not have all the language for the experiences that I am feeling especially in English, and the practice of creating art is the language that I sit in momentarily.
Voice from the Artist
“Art is movement, and a way to create spaces for open conversations. More than ever, we are in need of being in community and talking to each other; art and play is the tool for that.”
Medium: Mixed Media and Collage
8.5 x 11 inches
2024
