Alex Beattie

About

I create mythical dreamscapes and queer utopias, full of bright colour.

I do this by weaving together images of things which are meaningful and beloved to me.  Some of them exist.  Some used to exist, but are now lost.  Some have never existed outside of my own mind, yet they are still precious and I want them to be seen.

My printmaking practice extends across multiple processes – from etching, to lithography, to silkscreen print onto paper and textile – but there are some constants which run through all of the work that I make.

The first is the use of hand-drawn images.  Specifically my hand-drawn images.  These are sourced from everywhere, hunter-gatherer style: some captured from life; some from books and archives; some simply invented from scratch – but the one unifying factor is that I need them to be funnelled through my own drawing process.  By investing my attention, craft and love in that drawing, I feel I can justify the ‘provocative severance’ through which each image is ripped from its original context, ready to be entrusted with a new mission.

The second key element is the collaging together of those drawn images.  They have been shorn of context, but remain ripe with meaning and significance.  By arranging them, I build new connections, exploring what they can convey on a meta level.  For me, this is a process of self-discovery.   What are they doing?  How do they relate to each other?  Why have I placed them together in that way, and how does that reflect my own thoughts and feelings, both conscious and subconscious?

By bringing together all of these ingredients, I push the limits of hand-based printmaking techniques to create psychedelic dreamscapes: perfumed gardens of myth and wonder, death and renewal.