Bio
Alexandra Ross creates multimedia installations based around her experience being raised by parents whose isolationism, commitment to unschooling, and frequent moves created a life experience of disruption and survival. Now based in rural Manitoba, her work explores themes of personal chaos and emergent internal order within that chaos. Her installations include work in clay, print and photography as well as assemblage sculptures containing found objects interacting with each medium. Since arriving in Canada she has obtained her BFA at the University of Manitoba’s School of Art (2020). Alexandra mounted her first solo exhibition at the Steinbach Cultural Arts Centre (2015) and has since participated in a number of group shows in Winnipeg as well as a print exchange in Grand Forks (2019). Alexandra was awarded the Undergraduate Research Award (2018) under professor Grace Nickel as well as two UMSU scholarships. Currently she is completing a year long placement in the Rural Artist Mentorship Program through Manitoba Arts Network and Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art.
Statement
Often taking the form of multimedia installations and assemblage sculpture, Alexandra Ross’s work explores themes of chaos and order from her personal narrative. While her practice is based in Mitchell, Manitoba, she grew up moving frequently, an experience that deeply informs her work. In her photography she takes events from her past and weaves them together to create images of contemporary ritual as well as symbolic and performative identity. Her clay practice is experimental and pushes clay past its traditional uses into whimsical sculptural experiments. Her use of traditional print techniques to create surface narratives and multiples within her work. She weaves these distinct practices together to create assemblage sculptures as well as multimedia installations to explore her personal narrative, inviting the viewer to consider the complexity of human experience and contemplate how past choices play into current identity.
Education
2020 Bachelor of Fine Arts, School of Art, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
2010 BA Liberal Arts, Providence University-College, Otterburne, Manitoba.
Grants and Awards
2019 School of Art Student Association grant funding to construct and exhibit The Tiny Gallery.
2018 1st Place, University of Manitoba Research Poster Competition.
2018 Undergraduate Research Award.
2017 & 2018 UMSU Scholarship.
Professional Experience
2021 Founding partner of The Public Brewhouse and Gallery, Curator.
Exhibitions
Solo
2019 Anthropocene Gallery of Student Art, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
2015 The Vanishing Grasslands Steinbach Cultural Arts Centre, Steinbach, Manitoba.
Selected Group Exhibtions
2022 Confluence, Viscount Cultural Centre for the Arts, Neepawa, Manitoba.
2021 Confluence, Pinawa Art Gallery, Pinawa, Manitoba.
2021 Conflux, Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, Brandon, Manitoba.
2021 Momentum, Manitoba Arts Network, Online exhibition.
2021 I Am You, You Are Me, Scottsdale Public Art, Scottsdale, USA.
2019 1000 Miles Apart Exhibition, Gallery of Student Art, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
2019 Latent Images, School of Art Student Gallery, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
2019 Home, Student Print Exchange, Plains Art Museum, Fargo, USA.
2018 Show and Create, Edge Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
2018 Where are you from?, Gallery of Student Art, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
2017 Contemporaries, Inaugural Exhibition of the School of Art Student Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
2017 Show and Create, Edge Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Installation and Performances
2021 To Tell the Whole Truth, Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, Brandon, Manitoba.
2020 A Gallery is a Ditch is an Alleyway, Giroux, Mitchell, Randolf, Manitoba.
2020 Outside Looking In, The Tiny Gallery, New B’s Café, New Bothwell, Manitoba.
2020 Outside Looking In, The Tiny Gallery, Red Wing Diner, Grunthal, Manitoba.
2020 Outside Looking In, The Tiny Gallery, Mitchell Arena, Mitchell, Manitoba.
2018 Forest Guardians, Prairie Outdoor Exhibition, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
2017 500 Poweshiek Skipperlings, Summertide The Forks, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
2017 Grandmother Tree, Prairie Outdoor Exhibition, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Curatorial Experience
2021 Found in Translation, The Public Brewhouse and Gallery, Steinbach, Manitoba.
2020 Outside Looking In, The Tiny Gallery.
2019 Democracy Underfoot: A Show of Rio de Janeiro Artist Roosivelt Pinheiro’s Political Work, Curatorial Studies group exhibit, Architecture building, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
2018 Where are you from? Gallery of Student Art, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Presentations and Lectures
2021 Confluence, Artist Panel, Pinawa, Manitoba.
2020 Beyond the Perimeter, The Winnipeg Free Press and First Fridays, Online art talk.
2019 Democracy Underfoot, Panel Chair, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Mentorships
2020-2021 Rural Arts Mentorship Program, Manitoba Arts Network/Mentoring Artist’s for Women’s Art with Brenna George.
Alexandra Ross 