Art Travel Q & A – Alice Alva

I have been making for as long as I can remember and have gone through various mediums through the years. Painting is my first love, though I find it commands a lot of space both physically and mentally. I have been living in small, cramped Wellington houses and turned to embroidery almost as a matter of necessity. It is tactile like paint but there is not drying time, and it’s easy to transport – so it can be done almost anywhere.

I’m a visual artist and have been exhibiting artwork since I left art school in 2007. I love visual culture and how it brings like-minded people together. I have been lucky enough to have met many good friends and art-crushes through the years, all because we share this common passion or interest.

I like my creature comforts and prefer to create at home, sometimes even in bed watching Netflix or listening to podcasts.

I’ve been enjoying watching Cora Allan Wickliffe’s residency documentation at Mccahon house – a real embodiment of tangata whenuatanga – place-based making and learning. I love watching Jake Walker’s making process, combining hand-built ceramic frames with small oil paintings to create ready-to-hang art objects. I also can’t wait to get up to Anna Miles gallery and see Vita Cochran’s survey of bags.

Yes and no. I have probably had more time to make, but along with most other artists, there have been so many delays, postponements and virtual openings. As I mentioned above, I particularly enjoy engaging with the visual community and travelling to attend openings, and this has been difficult to do, especially over the last six months.

Masterworks in Auckland, The Mandarin Tree in Gordonton and I am just currently finishing off some works for a January show at Quiet Dog Gallery in Nelson.

All works copyright of the artist