Meet Zoe Alameda | Artist

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

Hi Zoe, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
Been thinking a lot about this image of a dog leashed to a water bottle. Written in the negative space reads, “The chains that hold us down in life are often imaginary.” It’s uncanny and relateable. I’ve been trying to overthink less, and whenever I feel like I’m in the thick of it I think of this image.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My practice is rooted in painting but often crosses into collage, sculpture, and printmaking. I’m drawn to found objects, textures, and symbols—things that already carry some kind of emotional or cultural residue. I find tensions everywhere within my work, between vulnerability and protection, softness and hardness, distraction and focus, digital and physical. I often use my own hands as recurring imagery, exploring identity through touch, labor, and distortion.

Even though many of my references come from the internet—ads, social media buttons, memes, religious kitsch, low-res textures—I process them through a deeply analog approach. I grew up in Los Angeles, surrounded by visual noise and commercial messaging, and I also grew up online, where identity and self-image are constantly in flux. A lot of my work reflects this contradiction: it’s layered, reflective, and fragmented. It doesn’t try to provide answers, but instead holds space for friction—between beauty and discomfort, authenticity and artifice, presence and dissociation.

I create work that attempts to feel present in a world that often wants us to disconnect. I think a lot about confronting yourself, even when it’s uncomfortable. I hope the art I create opens space for reflection, and invites people to feel seen in all their complexity.

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.
Tempura udon from Otomisan. Dan dan noodles from Joy. Shumai and rice cakes from Won Kok. Beer at Red Lion’s Tavern. Wine at El Prado. Sitting by the LA river after sundown.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My mom, such a driven and creative woman who has taught me so much about woodworking, sewing, natural dyes, deep cleaning, dog grooming.

Andrew Hunczak, dearest friend and amazing artist. Ashlynn Trane, my talented roommate and studiomate. Alex Carmen and Alex Emmons, curating dream team. Spotify shuffle. My 2016 Honda CRV. Whole Foods ribeye steak.

Website: https://zoealameda.com

Instagram: @unradmotions