Bio
Alexis Childress is an Atlanta-based photographer and mixed media artist born and raised in Illinois, relocating to Georgia in 2013. Inspired by Afrofuturism, her work uses technology to examine race, culture, and autobiography. She received her BFA from Georgia State University in 2020 and her work has been shown across several states with Good News Arts, Camayuhs Gallery, MINT Gallery, Atlanta Photography Group Gallery, Dalton Gallery, Rhode Island Center of Photographic Arts, and Day and Night Projects. Her work has also been published in Burnaway Magazine, The New York Public Library Zine, and Under the Bridge Zine, and she was a recipient of the Red Bull Arts Microgrant and the Visual Artists Grant from the Judith Alexander Foundation.
Artist Statement
Born from Afrofuturistic inspirations, my digitally created compositions dissect the history, desires, and consequences of the systematic treatment of blackness in America. Through my work, I use man-made systems of technology to critique and explore the man-made systems of race that dictate American culture; resulting in an ongoing project titled “The Tekhnologia of Blackness.” Tekhnologia is a Greek word meaning “systematic treatment.” It is also the word that “technology” is derived from. Within a system using digital photographs, image manipulation, found imagery, digitally created shapes and marks as well as photographed analog paint drips and smears, I am warranted to create surreal situations that replicate the world we live in, yet assume no physical resemblance to it. Having been raised in a small midwestern town engulfed in cultural manipulation, I experienced many systems of racial oppression. My work uses technology to create visual representations of my lived experience while claiming attention to the societal systems that made those lived experiences possible. As a purpose, my work serves to teach, not only myself, but others as well, about African American history, the consequences of racial oppression, and what it truly means to be black in America; manifesting final compositions that are designed and seemingly delicious yet hold incredulous meaning within every mark.
www.alexischildress.com
