In Conversation with - Alexandra Fongaro
Art is born as an intimate reflection of the artist's personal experiences, of their inner life, their personal perspective and their vision of the world. As such, few young artists manage to produce a complete body of work that is at the same time conceptually profound and visually appealing.
One of those artists is Alexandra Fongaro.
Beyond their apparent lightness, Alexandra Fongaro’s works make us delve deep into themes and questions that we often avoid, searching beyond the visible to reveal what is not apparent.
In spite of her youth, Alexandra has won several competitions, including “Arte in Costruzione”, has participated in numerous group exhibitions and art residencies, and has achieved multiple solo exhibitions.
Although trained as a painter, Alexandra works in multiple mediums to express her artistic vision, including watercolors, inks, acrylics, human hair, silicone, glass, charcoal, wood, and others, often in public art installations and also in performances.
Enchantment Potion for a Dog. Watercolor and ink on paper (2026)
Using both traditional and unconventional materials, Alexandra creates works that conceal subtle and deep meanings beyond their apparence, inviting a deeper reflection and multiple looks.
Alexandra Fongaro’s practice is young and mature at the same time, based on careful artistic research and a personal reflection focused on the deepest issues of our time: our bodies and self-perception, our relationship with animals and nature, climate change, the world after humanity, the invisible life of our emotions.
Combining a contagious enthusiasm, youthful joy, and wisdom of centuries, Alexandra welcomes us into her studio and kindly allows us some time amid her hectic artistic agenda to answer our questions.
Join us to learn more about the life and work of this extraordinary young artist, Alexandra Fongaro.
Left: SeaWRACK. Watercolor and ink on paper (2026)
Center: Fishing Rainbows. Human hair, wood, glass (2026)
Right: Manifesting transplant. Human hair knotted on canvas (2026)
A Curious Culturalist - Alexandra, you're a fabulous multilingual young artist of two continents - can you tell us a little about yourself?
Alexandra Fongaro - I studied at Pratt and Parsons the New School for Design in New York. I was born and raised in New Jersey, until 2016- when I started going back and forth between Europe and the UK for 6 months a year. In 2020, I went to RUFA in Rome, where I finished my Masters degree. I have been living and working in Rome since then.
ACC - You are originally from the United States, but now you live and work in Italy. What made you decide to change countries and continents?
AF - In 2016, the day Trump was elected, I put in my request for Italian citizenship as both of my parents are Italian. I visited family often in my adolescence, fell in love with Italy, with an Italian, and decided to come over.
ACC - As an artist, have you experienced any differences between living and working in Italy and living and working in the U.S.?
AF - The U.S. seems very practically and financially driven- and in Italy, I have encountered many more experimental and dream driven places.
ACC - Yes, it's interesting to notice how the "new world" seems to be now more restrained and attached to rules, and the "old world" is less afraid of experimenting, at least when it comes to the arts...
AF - Everything in America seems so motivated by finance, that naturally that cultural bias comes into work as well. You see it in the shaping of the American art identity - it seems congruent with the market. In Italy, art history is rooted in the divine. I observe more liberty in expression, perhaps because of these two points of departure.
2/5 A Day. Watercolor and ink on paper, painted pine frame, plexiglass (2024)
ACC - What would you say are the most important challenges that expatriate artists face when moving to another country?
AF - There are many different experiences that expatriate artists have. As an Italian American moving to Italy, knowing the language, I didn’t experience challenges outside of the regular artistic struggles that unite us all. I saw my expatriate friends that came from other nations “Europeanize” their practices to make it digestible for an Italian audience. Audiences would sometimes make the comment that a gallery or institution was showing their work only because they were foreign.
ACC -Wow, that's rough! Did you ever encounter such hurdles? The Italian art ecosystem is notoriously hard to break into, even for Italian artists...
AF - I did not experience these hurdles; I think I enjoy more of the benefits of foreign intrigue, but not too much, as I still relate to the culture.
ACC - You often depict botanical species in your paintings. From trees and flowers to common leafy greens, they all find space in your creations, often with a multiplicity of readings. What fascinates you about them?
AF - Nature is our common artistic medium, across time and space. It is the language that binds us all, and because it is so ubiquitous, I find it most challenging and exciting to work in.
ACC - On your website, you ask, "What forms of communication will emerge among flora and fauna once human control ceases, when it is no longer silenced or interrupted?". What do you think the answer would be?
AF - I am constantly trying to answer this question through many different forms- like plants that grow underwear that grow their own labels or sarracenia that evolve to eat humans.
ACC - Some of your works have emerged after some research, while others have emerged inspired by a dream or thought - what is your creative process like?
AF - My creative process is being stricken. That can be my dream or thought that persists, until the point that I put it down and start to understand why, conceptually.
Left: Three Nani Hidden in the Alpenglow. Watercolor on raw canvas (2025). Right: detail
ACC - Your artworks are often displayed in non-conventional locations, out of white cubes and galleries - is there a reason for that?
AF - I am interested in accessibility and allowing audiences to reach me by chance.
ACC - That unexpected element surely creates a different rapport with your art - one expects to go to a gallery and see artworks, but one does not go to a park expecting to find a display of lovely watercolors in the middle of the woods...
AF - Absolutely, the gallery structure is lovely and inspires the ritual of preparation or pilgrimage to experience a work, often in a group, but it can also be isolating. The park, the outdoors, tend to make audiences feel more comfortable with the work.
ACC - Your practice displays a very strong focus on nature, but also on the human body and its narratives, as well as on stories associated with particular locations. What would you say are the main topics that interest you to explore through art?
AF - I am motivated by communication. Nature, the body, space, are the vocabulary that we all can use. I see my process as a vehicle for interconnectivity.
Don't touch me. Dyed human hair, silicone,
watercolor paper, earrings. (2022)
ACC - You seem to have a particular interest in human hair. Not only you do your own hair very originally, but you've also created artworks with hair. Can you tell us more about it?
AF - Hair is an enormous means of communication, to continue from your last question. It can be transformed into anything, conceptually or visually. It’s used to attract a partner, to make ourselves feel better, in food, as rope, as nets. The same material can be disgusting, sexy, conventional, inclusive to marginalized groups. I grew up working in salons and I still work in the hair industry. This infinite resource being dumped made me want to repurpose it.
ACC - Two of your most striking pieces are 'Manifesting Transplant' and 'Don't Touch Me'. What inspired you to create these pieces?
AF - Manifesting Transplant came from my aunt falling and wounding her head. She was in the hospital and when I would hug her and caress her hair, she would tell me she wanted it to grow back. This work was me tracing her wound, one hair strand at a time, knotting each individual hair strand, hoping that hers would come back too. Don’t Touch Me came from thoughts about the lack of transparency in the human hair trade industry. Often this hair is coming from places like India, China, Vietnam, often with little to no payment. I wanted to imagine the stories of the people whose heads they originally belonged to- and thought of butterflies, their ability to float through different spaces. All of the hair was dyed to match butterflies that reside in regions where this hair is sourced.
ACC - Where do you get your inspiration from?
AF - It strikes me.
ACC - Do you have any favorite artists?
AF - Raffaello, Georgia O’Keefe, Salvador Dali, David Lynch, Cai Guo-Qiang and Kehinde Wiley.
Prepare Yourselves for Venus’ Chariot (hanging), Torno Subito (on wall).
Watercolor and ink on paper. (2026)
ACC - You work mainly with oils and watercolor on canvas, but you've also created works in myriad other media, such as acrylics, photocatalythic paint, pine sap, bits of carbonized pine, silicone, human hair, gouache, etc. How do you decide which materials you'll use for your artworks?
AF - I am stricken with images in my dreams or observing materials. They reveal their intentions to me and I use them how they ask me to be used.
ACC - Sounds like a very intuitive process. You once met David Lynch, who's also one of your favorite artists - can you tell us more about this meeting?
AF - I desperately wanted to work with him, and would send his Transcendental Meditation letters, applications to work there (mind you, I don’t meditate) and paintings. I would call and email without response. I found out he was going to be at Sperone in New York for his opening, and prepared a painting of my mouth on a copper plate, in a box, with a frightening letter saying something amongst the lines of “I can pick you up in your hotel in New York and bring you to my mom’s house where she will make you traditional Sicilian food". He walked into a very loud gallery that became immediately silent as he walked in. A large clear pathway formed. He shook everyone’s hand that was in that path and asked them how they were doing. I was in front of the elevator, at the end of his trajectory, when he extended his hand to me, smiling, and, starstruck, could not speak. I handed him the box with the note and he looked confused and handed it to whom I presume to be his assistant.
ACC - I think I would have fainted in his presence! But continuing with the topic of art, what do you think is the role of art and artists in today's society?
AF - Our role is to inspire thought or sentiment.
ACC - Do you have any projects in the near future?
AF - I collaborated with a factory called Natural Fibres that uses waste wool fiber to create yarn. They made a special blend for me with human hair that I collected. I am working with a fisherman that regularly performs water analysis in Venice. There are three other projects I cannot discuss at this time.
ACC - Sounds very intriguing and we can't wait to see them! Thank you for your time and for sharing your experience with us, Alexandra, we wish you all the best in your projects.
Joyfully enigmatic and deceivingly profound, the art of Alexandra Fongaro makes us ponder and wonder in equal parts, without us even noticing, providing us with a much-needed dose of whimsy and reflection in our current troublesome times.
If you wish to see more of Alexandra's work, visit her webpage (www.alexandrafongaro.com/ ). You can also follow Alexandra on Instagram or Threads at @fongarina to see more of her work and catch her latest projects.
All pictures courtesy of Alexandra Fongaro
Cover picure: ©Michele Stanzione
Related Articles
Comments
Post a Comment