Women Cinemakers meets
Ashleigh Alexandria Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, USA
Glitter body art on dancer Dee Dee Dame. Expressing Black culture through art, dance and fashion.
An interview by Francis L. Quettier and Dora S. Tennant womencinemaker@berlin.com
Hello Ashleigh and welcome to : we would start this interview with a couple of questions regarding your background. You have a solid formal training and you graduated with a Fine Arts degree from Hampton University: how did these experiences influence your evolution as an artist? Moreover, does your cultural background direct the trajectory of your artistic research? The direction of combining body paint, film and photography in my artistry formed through time. I grew up in the arts, participating in various recreational activities including dance, painting and drama. I have always gravitated to drawing and painting portraits. Attending Hampton University was not an original choice
for me however, I was open to the HBCU (Historically Black College & University) experience. While enrolled, I had broadened my knowledge on perspective, lines and color theory which enabled me to create more original work of my own. Respectively, my creative process has been influenced by the history of Black artists who came before me such as John Biggers, Augusta Savage, Lorna Simpson, and Kara Walker, just to name a few. These artist have their own artistic style. As I strive to find my voice as a artist I take with me their accomplishments as a reminder to stay true to my calling. I would say my cultural background has a heavy influence in my artistic journey. I have a need to depict my culture in a positive light, in a world that tries to dim our shine. For this special edition of we have selected , an extremely video that our readers have already started to get to know in the