Alexandra Borealis is a 22-year-old disabled artist living in Boise Idaho. Her subject matter is comprised mainly of the human face and figure, and she enjoys exploring styles of Surrealism and Impressionism. Her goal is to coax you into the darker corners of your subconscious so that you may experience the beauty of that which is less appreciated or excepted.
“ I have been drawn to artistic expression as means of communication literally since my infancy. I was diagnosed with the degenerative neuro-muscular disease SMA at approximately one year of age. My ability to not only survive, but also grow as a person has been completely dependent upon ability to adapt the way I do things with my constant physical deterioration. I learned by necessity, at a very young age to be observant and patient as a means of discovering how to manipulate my situation without direct physical intervention.
As I was unable to keep up with children my age, my favorite thing to do when I was very young was to sit with my father in his closet-sized studio while he worked. He would keep me busy organizing the compartments of his toolbox, never letting me touch his art supplies for fear of the toxins aggravating my health issues. I believe it was my seventh birthday when he finally gave in and bought me my first set of acrylic paints, still refusing to let me use oil paint until I was 14 when he bought me my own closet sized studio’s worth of art supplies.
At the age of 16 I was accepted into a two-year program for graphic arts taught by Robert Price at Thomas Edison High School of Technology in Silver Spring Maryland, where I learned to use technology as a way to be more efficient artistically. This is the only time during my public education when I did not feel out of place. It was a very casual environment, where I got to interact with people who were equally passionate about creative expression as I was, and it was a major step for me in my decision to really commit myself to the arts.
My physical disability has played a very major role in my artistic direction. My techniques and media are a direct reflection of my physical ability. I am most prolific with the simplest of tools like a mechanical pencil, which does not require constant sharpening. The more complicated my tools and supplies become, the more physical assistance I need to work. The shrinking size of my artwork over the years is also a reflection of my degenerating physical ability. Most of my life my focus has been on creating mostly two-dimensional artwork with a combination of traditional mediums and computer graphics, although I have intentions of creating adaptive equipment which will enable me to create larger scale pieces and eventually sculptures. I would love to learn to cast metal, at least on a small scale.
My subject matter has a lot to do with a fascination with the human body and biology born out of severe health problems, self-image issues, and feelings of physical isolation. A lot of my work has very dark undertones, relating to the severe anxiety issues I have come up against as a result of both my strange upbringing and my disability. I have become very interested recently in psychology and 'disorders' of the mind , especially schizophrenia and autism as they both (like quadriplegia) tend to spawn such negative and generally incorrect assumptions about an individual. A major theme in my artwork over the last two years has been keys and locks, which was sparked by a man giving me the ‘key to his heart’ on a necklace during a period of intense emotional pain, self discovery, and experimentation with emotional and physical intimacy.”