Life can be scary, fast, and discordant. Adulthood, the compilation of myriad experiences, can bury youthful dreams. Alejandra España resists this dark potential, using a common, joyful language of play to tap into the magical boundlessness of youth, nature, and the unconscious mind. Everything is connected and in a state of becoming.

Alejandra builds environments. Across media, references to biodiversity, home, and a totemic past dance together in color and light with a unique and universally symbolic porousness. Lithe, primordial creatures scamper across surfaces before bursting into three dimensions. The sounds of crickets and birds attune our senses to often-overlooked life-affirming details. And loose, dynamic brushstrokes allude to a moment when her world began. But the compositions’ meticulously crafted supports offset this newness and improvisation. Whether a painted panel (with all sides carefully considered) or a pedestal or a wall, she painstakingly considers the entirety of her works as fully formed messages of hope.

Alejandra consciously defines parameters within which she can let herself, and all of us, just be. She builds safe constraints to let her mind wander without censorship so her brain can reset from day-to-day toil and tap into subconscious universalities. As a result, shared symbols emerge, welcoming the viewer (us) into her garden.

Despite our distance in geography, language, and culture, I can feel the tenderness and excitement with which Alejandra plays, and, through the work, I feel our primal connection. I hear her whispered invitation for me to create my own garden within myself.

Heather Bhandari