Alaina Stocker

Lives and works in Seattle, WA, USA

Artist statement

My practice is composed of exploring spaces, observing, collecting intriguing objects and experiences, then creating work in response. I treat what I collect as evidence of life, often choosing to depict things that are useful to humans as ritual-building, routine-seeking creatures. Drawing from my own experiences, I explore the feeling of comfort and freedom when shedding shame in favor of a bitter-sweet homage to the inevitability of passing time. I tell personal stories with my work, and with that I confront the reality of the often-painful things that have happened to me, directly because I am a woman. I spend hours embroidering words I write about my experiences, and it is a time to meditate on these things painful and joyful. And then when I am smooshing paint around, often thickly, I am creating, as they say, body. I see the entire process as an extension of my own physical being.

Artwork