Alexa Meade has evolved a new art-form, with a whole new approach to portraiture. Applying paint directly on the model’s body, she creates a 2D visual that either seems to move around in its 3D surroundings or paints the surroundings too – to create a microcosmic 2D experience of a 3D world! Basically creating the illusion that real-life people and places are inside the world of a 2D painting, Alexa’s art-form provokes curiosity and invokes awe. 

Born in Washington D.C. in 1986, Alexa has a B.A. in Political Science. However, a natural flair for art had seen her taking painting and sculpture classes at school, which explains her understanding of scale and dimensions – but of course she had never before used the human body as her canvas! “Before I first painted on the human body, I hadn’t practiced painting for almost six years. But when the idea formed in my mind - I wanted to see what it would look like to put black paint down on shadows. Soon it evolved to painting all the colors as they existed in a 3d space on top of themselves. I realized that by painting in this style, I was able to seemingly collapse depth, making the entire scene, humans and all, appear to be a 2d painting.”

While working on the side of the politics that dealt with spin and PR, she became “really fascinated by how we interpret information and the mismatch between what is said and what is heard. I carried over my interest in spin into my art, prompting me to explore the different ways that visual perception can be manipulated,” she muses.

Blending her perceptions about politics into her unconventional art-form, lends a deeper meaning to her work – making it more thought-provoking and exciting.   

About the process for her portraits, Alexa says she likes to paint as much of the background and clothes as she can before the day of the final painting and photo session. “I can spend 2-5 days painting the walls, floors, and props used in a full body portrait. Painting clothes can take 1-4 hours depending on the extensiveness of the drapery and any patterned print. I need to paint the clothes on a stand-in model's body in order to effectively capture the shadows of the drapery. On the day of painting the final portrait, my real model puts on the pre-painted clothes and I just paint the face and exposed skin. I like to minimize the time my model has to pose during the painting session so that when it's comes to the photography, the model feels more lively and engaged.”

The most difficult part of the process of her art-works, according to Alexa is that “once it's done, it's done. You can't go back and use fresh eyes to touch things up. This is really challenging. Sometimes I'll make what I think is a perfect painting and then when I later look at the pictures, I might notice a stray brush stroke or something has gone weird. Because I don't paint in photoshop, whatever photo I snapped, that is what I'm left with to exhibit. It's not a static painting, but a real person, so there are the awkward in-between moments. There are eyes half closed, and people that are having bad hair days ...in a traditional painting there's no such thing as a bad hair day unless it's an intentional decision.”

About her style of painting, Alexa says, “My paintings are a like a reverse Trompe-L’Oeil. Unlike a traditional Trompe-L'oeil painting which tricks the eye into thinking a 2D canvas might be a real 3D space, I do the opposite: I take the 3D world and create the illusion that it is a 2D painting.” 

Commissioned to create artwork for prestigious brands such as MINI Cooper, Denim & Supply Ralph Lauren, Sony, and Porsche, Alexa has exhibited her work extensively and has been featured by prominent publications. She also gives lectures, and on Tuesday afternoons, she volunteers as a teacher in an art class for the blind and visually impaired at the Braille Institute of America. Her TED Talk called “Your Body Is My Canvas” has been viewed over 2.5 million times. Collaborating on a short film called Color of Reality written, directed, and choreographed by Jon Boogz, Alexa Meade's art is the medium for the visual storytelling. The film won the Art as Impact Award at Great Big Story and Best Experimental Film at the Toronto Short Film Festival.  

Alexa's varied collaborations prove the increasing role of art in the modern world. The crossplay of reality and imagination, of the three-dimensional world versus the two-dimensional, of painting vis-a-vis sculpture - is what captivates the onlooker. 

While Alexa paints every part of the body and clothes of her models, and the walls and floors, and accessories around them, the eyes are kept untarnished; thereby adding to the mystique and magic of the art-works!