ARTIST STATEMENT
I investigate the potential of paper pulp to record touch and create intimacy, much as a handwritten letter does, by offering a space for emotional connection to the viewer. During complex political times such as these, introspection and tactility feel necessary to counterbalance the fast-paced digital culture where information can be lost in the glossiness of a flattened image. Hapticity – a cross-disciplinary phenomenon that explains how visual perceptions translate into internal experiences and feelings – draws us into the body, beyond surface encounters. I began working with paper to engage in such a sensory experience.
My works are as much about painting as they are about sculpture, referencing hues from fleeting, everyday moments like crumbling sidewalks, dusk, bruised fruit, or flushed cheeks. I see these inspirations of color as events and I am invested in how color and texture can activate emotion, connecting to both our inward and outward experience, and creating meaning in our existence. My sculptures evoke tension, awkwardness, anxiety, loss, and pleasure.
BIO
Alexis Granwell (b. 1981, New York) is an artist who investigates the potential of pulp to record touch and create intimacy, exploring the psychological and bodily characteristics of our built and natural environments.
Her work has been exhibited internationally at The Paper Academy in Gilleleje, Denmark; Schau Fenster in Berlin, Germany; and Europos Parkas Museum in Vilnius, Lithuania. In the United States, she has shown work at such institutions as The American University Art Museum at The Katzen Art Center and The Weatherspoon Museum in Greensboro, NC, as well as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Museum, SUNY Old Westbury and Dickinson College. In New York, her exhibitions include Zürcher Gallery, BravinLee Programs, A.I.R. Gallery, Underdonk, Field Projects, Ortega y Gasset, and Field of Play. She has also presented work at Fleisher/Ollman Gallery and Fjord Gallery in Philadelphia; Hemphill Gallery in Washington, DC; Mana Contemporary in Chicago; Bryan Miller Gallery in Houston; Mono Practice in Baltimore; and Tiger Strikes Asteroid Los Angeles. She is scheduled to present a solo exhibition at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey in 2027, her largest exhibition to date.
In 2024, Alexis Granwell completed a commissioned monumental sculpture and series of paintings for Penn Medicine’s Clifton Center for Medical Breakthroughs, curated by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Prior to this, in 2015, Granwell was awarded an Independence Foundation Fine Arts Fellowship, which enabled her residency at Dieu Donné in New York, NY—an experimental lab dedicated to the intersection of paper pulp and contemporary art making. She has also participated in residencies at I-Park Foundation, AS220, Ragdale, and Jentel. Her work has been reviewed in Hyperallergic, Sculpture Magazine, Studio International, Whitehot Magazine, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, The Globe and Mail, Two Coats of Paint, Maake Magazine, Hand Papermaking Magazine, Title Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Art F City.
Alexis Granwell is a professor of drawing at the University of Pennsylvania. From 2009 to 2019, she was a founding member and co-director of Tiger Strikes Asteroid Philadelphia, a collective focused on fostering experimental, cross-disciplinary work. She lives and works in Philadelphia, PA.