Alejandro Macias
My work and practice stems from the division represented by the U.S./ Mexico border and how the history of this boundary creates an internal conflict with my distinctive voice. The Rio Grande Valley, where I born and raised, remains a unique place for its fusion of Mexican and American culture. Coming from this large stretch of marginalized region, I feel divided by these two nations while simultaneously composed by them. This mirrors my personal engagement with traditional rendering, and my challenge with contemporary drawing and painting.
At the root of this specific work is a reinterpretation of archived family photos of my immediate family spanning from my youthful grandparents in the past to my younger brother in the present. The work is inspired by wallet-sized photographs that I carried with me as a child, and meant to be an internal reflection of Mexican-American identity and personal family history. The compositions proved to be challenging as I navigated around previously unknown territories of collage and miniature dimensions. I like to imagine that these portraits are in constant motion and are abstract representations of the cultural shift that happened between three generations.
Born and raised in Brownsville, Texas, along the U.S./ Mexico border, Alejandro Macias received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Brownsville in 2008, and a Master of Fine Arts in 2-D Studio Art from the University of Texas – Pan American in 2012.
Since 2016 he has been the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions including notable and prestigious residencies at Vermont Studio Center, Chateau d’Orquevaux in Orquevaux, France, The Studios at MASS MoCA, and most recently Wassaic Project in Wassaic, NY (2022).
He recently participated in group exhibitions at the Visual Arts Center at the University of Texas at Austin, Mexic-Arte Museum, Rockport Center for the Arts, Carlsbad Museum of Art and had solo exhibitions at Presa House Gallery and Tucson Museum of Art. He will also be featured in forthcoming exhibitions at the Amarillo Museum of Art, Urban Arts Center in Dallas, TX and Five Oaks Museum in Portland, OR.
He currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Arizona School of Art in Tucson, AZ.