ALEXANDRIA WITTMANN
Alexandria (Allie) Wittmann is an interdisciplinary artist that navigates perceptual awareness by playing with material, color and light. Each of her works hold unique characteristics based on materiality, the movement of sunlight, and the encouragement of community engagement. Her work aims to create interactive and thought provoking spaces that allow viewers a chance to catch a breath and appreciate where they stand within our world. Her work has been described as “perceptual devices that are compositionally and passionately connected to the landscape of the outside world while also captivating the movement of those that walk past”. Through the research of how humans are influenced by their surroundings, navigation of one's awareness through each sculptural installation truly finds a way into each piece of Wittmann's practice.
Wittmann grew up in a small rural town just south of Madison, Wisconsin. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Humanistic Studies from University Wisconsin La-Crosse in 2020, she moved to Portland, Maine to pursue her Masters in applied Studio Art. She graduated in spring of 2022 with her MFA and currently works at Maine College of Art and Design.
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Ongoing Research…
Whether natural or artificial, light is a tool that draws the interest of a viewer into a provided space. Direct manipulation of light influences perception and material aids in the formulation of the desired interest. Natural light tends to be a stronger tool when referencing movement or time, but artificial light can be just as strong with atmospheric art and the themes behind dramatized lighting.
My interest and research revolves around the overarching theme of space, and more recently how humans interact with architectural components. My background in traditional printmaking, and the layering of two-dimensional surfaces creates a basis or beginning to build interactions in a humanistic and fundamental way. My ongoing research changes day to day, but will always be grounded in my love of humans and culture.
2023 Project
Cast shadows need an applicable material from which to be casted and architecture can play a large role in materiality when removing a centered object. Windows, for example, are a transparent material that consist of melted sand held together by structural components. Natural light can be cast through this transparent material but does not become a cast shadow unless architecture is recognized and a transparent material is applied. Structural components are important for material, light source, and intentionality. Color is the tool to create playfulness in the formless.
Photo taken by Joel Tsui