Meet Kory Alexander | Artist

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

Hi Kory, what do you think makes you most happy? Why?
I am most happiest when I am painting. For me it is a therapeutic mixture of quality alone time and unapologetic creativity. I started painting again over the pandemic, after years of not creating anything. I embraced the abundant alone time and really put all of my focus in painting. I would lose all sense of time and space while endlessly mixing paint colors and making all sorts of shapes, marks, and lines on papers and canvases until a composition was formed. It was pure bliss, I really felt an energy shift during this time, and eventually found my artistic style and routine studio practice that I use to this day.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am an artist that paints dreamy, colorful, landscapes and figure paintings. I started out the gate working with acrylic paint, then slowly moved to working in oil. I still use both mediums, but I fell madly in love with oil paint, and it is my first choice. I mainly take inspiration from my personal life and my favorite memories. I consider myself a wallflower with rose colored glasses. I absolutely love to observe people and things spontaneously, and sometimes candidly. For my landscape paintings, I use the California terrain and scenery to keep inspired. I feel very lucky to live in California, as there is an abundance of beautiful nature, and iconic architecture and landmarks.

The most exciting thing about what I do is that I always seem to find new ways to paint things. It never gets old. For example, I paint a lot of water and swimming pools, and everytime I do the process is always different, whether it be the color choices, or brush strokes, or the number of layers of pigment. It’s like an intimate, improvised dance with myself and the paint. It is so thrilling.

I studied art at the University of Texas at Dallas, but after I graduated I didn’t paint for years. I moved to LA to pursue an acting career and spent most of my twenties figuring out what I wanted out of this life. I was surrounded by so many great and creative people, but I didn’t feel confident or in control of my career. I knew I wanted to be creative, but pursuing acting wasn’t fulfilling my creativity. Eventually I felt lost. Then the pandemic hit in 2020 and I found my way back to painting. I really feel like I was meant to be an artist in this lifetime, and I am so grateful I found myself on that path again.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take them to Silverlake for coffee and breakfast, then stop by DTLA and go to the Last Bookstore, eat and shop at smorgasburg that happens every sunday at The Row DTLA, After we would hit up the museums and art galleries that are in the area. At night we would go to Akbar and The Eagle, Two iconic gay bars on the east side. We would then have to drive to Palm Springs for a couple of days, It’s my favorite place to go. We would rent a cute mid century home with a pool, and really just relax and lose all sense of time. Also I would make sure to stop at a few plant stores and nurseries, probably Mickey Hargitay’s and Leaf and Spine.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My best friends Lucas and Lubomir have been extremely supportive since day 1 of my artistic journey. They are also my painting muses, and graciously let me use them as the subject of many of my figurative paintings.

Also, all the fellow artists I meet at art fairs and shows are the coolest people I have ever met. There is a sense of community and relatability in all of us, and I think that is really important. It really helps to meet peers that lift you up and are supportive, and I feel lucky to know these kinds of people.

Website: www.koryalexanderart.com

Instagram: @kory_alexander_art