Meet Alexy Préfontaine | 3D Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alexy Préfontaine and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexy, we’d love to hear what makes you happy.
I feel like this is the question of a lifetime isn’t it? I don’t think I have a definite answer to this yet, but as the years go by, I start to realize some of the things that make me happy, or should I say: fulfilled.

The main thing that makes me feel fulfilled is being surrounded and spending time with people I love. There are times where I’m so busy that I don’t have as much time on my hands to spend with my closed ones, and I can definitely notice how it affects me. I am lucky to be surrounded by amazing folks, family and friends alike.

After that, what fulfills me is working on meaningful creative projects. It can be a client project for a musician I admire, or simply a project that is exciting to me and brings me out of my comfort zone. If I am not busy with client work, I like to work on personal projects. I get a lot of joy out of the process; seeing a piece come to life, piece by piece. There are challenges and frustrations along the way, but it’s all worth it when I get this warm feeling inside that tells me I’m onto something! That’s the best! Also, for more than a decade, I’ve been playing music with my band, which is an outlet I hold dearly to my heart. Getting to hang out with some of my best friends and create music together for so long is something I feel lucky to have in my life.

All in all, I feel like as long as I get to spend time with the people I love, and get to create on meaningful projects, whatever they may be, I’ll feel fulfilled.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My work is all about color, balance, and emotion. It’s a blend of surreal landscapes and digital portraiture. I think what makes my work stand out is how I create my ethereal characters by combining digital fashion design with organic and detailed sculpting as means of expression. Also, I gravitate around an expressive use of lighting, texture, color and composition. The art I create is rooted in self-introspection, where I translate my own human experience through my abstract and otherworldly figures or surreal environments. My universe is a realm of poetic contrats and mysterious sights that invite the viewer to escape for a moment­.

My artistic journey began in 2014 when I discovered mobile apps that I could use to create artwork for my band. It was quite a random discovery, but I instantly was hooked. I always loved drawing and imagining stories as a child, so this was a brand new outlet where I could express myself visually.

At the time, I was studying sciences in college, but didn’t really have a sense of purpose, in hindsight. I liked what I was studying but didn’t feel passionate about it. I’ve always been a hardworking person, so I was doing well in school, which was rewarding. However, I had no clue what field I’d love to work in after.

I’ve always loved creative endeavours though. Thus after I finished my science studies, I started a bachelor’s degree in electric engineering. I quickly realized it wasn’t for me. In parallel, I was sharing the digital art I was creating on Instagram and I was starting to be more serious about this side project. I was having my first (though very modest) client projects come my way, and I truly enjoyed it.

That’s when I decided to finish my semester and leave engineering. I took a few months off school to build a portfolio, despite the fact that I’ve never made one before. It wasn’t easy, I felt lost, but I kept going and ended up being accepted in graphic design at University of Quebec in Montreal. It was my biggest achievement at the time. I was so happy! I felt like that was the universe or something telling me I was on the right path.

While in university, I kept pushing “aeforia”, my digital art project. It eventually became my main job and has been ever since then!

Over the years, I moved on to using various professional tools and chose 3D as my main medium. I also had the chance to work with various brands such as Bershka, Cirque du Soleil and Pantone, as well as musicians like ODESZA, Lil Nas X and Yung Gravy. My work traveled the world and has been exhibited on numerous occasions, and I had my first solo exhibition last year, here in Montreal.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If you ever come to Montreal, here are some of the places I like to go:

Food:

– Nikkei: a lovely restaurant for japanese/peruvian food and great cocktails.
– Yokato Yokabai Ramen: my favorite place for ramen.
– Fleurs et Cadeaux: you HAVE to try their fried chicken, lovely japanese food.
– Yoni Falafel
– Vin Papillon

Drinks:

– Vin vin vin: perfect spot for wine tasting or a cute date
– Projet Pilote: pretty cool microbrewery, they also have good food (haven’t tried personally yet)
– Le Darling: great atmosphere

Worthy places to visit:

– The Plateau: I am biased here, as I live there, but this is one of the nicest neighbourhoods. It’s nice to just wander around. It has many parks, restaurants, and in the summer, Mont-Royal Avenue (a pretty busy street of the area) is only available for pedestrians. It’s a perfect setup for a nice afternoon stroll.

– The old port is definitely the most touristic part of the city, but it is worth a visit. Take a walk near the water and plenty of things to do in the area.

– Mile End: a pretty hip neighbourhood of the city. Great area for those who want to go shopping and get nice food or hang out in some nice bars.

– Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal

– Mont-Royal: on a sunny day, it’s worth visiting to enjoy the view at the top. One of the biggest parks in the whole city.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I am extremely lucky to have a wonderful support system.

So I’d of course like to start by thanking my family. They have been supportive since the very start of my journey. Thank you to my parents, my sister, my step parents, and even my grand parents who always root for me no matter what! I can’t forget all my wonderful friends, who are incredibly important to me too.

There would be so many people to name, so today I’ll just pick one, whom I think I never gave a proper shoutout to before. I’d like to give a shout to my friend Gabriel, who also happens to be an incredible artist who goes by the name Oska (@oskadraw).

Gabriel and I have met online back in 2014, when I first started creating digital art. We quickly became friends as we realized we grew up in the same part of the province. I wanted to give him a shoutout because over the years, he’s been one of the few people I’ll annoy every now and then for a second pair of eyes. Someone I can trust for feedback or to help me pick which version of a piece is best. So shoutout to you Gabriel and thanks for all the support over the years!!

Website: https://www.aeforia.xyz

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aeforia/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aeforiadesign

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aeforia/

Image Credits
Press shot: @vin.ill