Alexandra Karamallis’ Instagram page is a good resting place for those of us stuck indoors. A textile designer and artist, Karamallis’ paintings center around the natural world, through depictions of landscapes and gardens, providing a warm welcome to plants, flowers, and animals. All are welcome inside her vibrant settings.
Based in New York, Karamallis graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design; her work including both textile and painting – employing tools and techniques that include watercolor gouache and collage making, as well as knitting. “I’m a very whatever I feel inspired to do is what I will do kind of a creative person,” she once remarked in an interview with Matter of Hand. “I love knitting and painting, but I go through phases with both of them.”
Her Iranian heritage also plays a role in her work. “One of the biggest goals in a Persian garden is to create protected relaxation outdoors with the same level of privacy that you would feel in your own home,” she says. “That is something that is really interesting to me.”
Her goal? To create something that is at once thought-provoking and joyful. There’s also an emphasis on color. “I try to come up with a color story that feels cohesive,” says Karamallis. “Oftentimes if I decide on a color that I want to have some kind of movement throughout the piece, I will lay it down in a couple places instead of finishing one area first. I try to look at the whole thing throughout the process. I think that a lot of painters do that to create a larger, cohesive composition.”
Step inside:
