Alexis Vanessa Ramos was born in Woodland Hills California in 1998. She earned her BA in Visual Art from California State University, Northridge in 2020. She has received awards and recognition, including the McDonald’s Franchise Tuition Assistance Scholarship and the Annual Visual Art Award from the Arts Club of Pasadena. Her work has been exhibited at the Conley Art Gallery at CSU Fresno and the Art Galleries at CSU Northridge. She is part of the Art Collective CSUN VOTES, working to raise awareness about voting in Los Angeles County. As well as apart of the SIPARP Artists Residency that gives artists time away from their regular lives so that they can focus on their work during this perilous time of self-isolation and social distancing.
My artwork poses the question: “Are we taking care of ourselves?” My mixed media works deal with the subject of health and mental health. Drawing inspiration from events that I have encountered personally or am curious about, I begin with the idea of medication.
In my work, I depict medicine bottles in different forms, experimenting with media. In my paintings, installations and photographs, the medicine bottles are constant. They form a conceptual line in my practice. I use a featureless background to represent the malaise one may obtain from the medication of antidepressants and anxiety itself. My work addresses the sense of loneliness one may feel from not being able to discuss their health openly. Using assembled photographs and my personal journal entries; I create a place of discussion when it comes to health. My palette often uses muted colours, which deliberately resemble those in a hospital to reflect the overall malaise feeling.
Along with my journal entries, I also use text from my research on mental health, as a reminder of the chemical formations in our mind. Society has stigmatized problems with mental health, and many are not comfortable discussing it. Not only this, but those who are taking medications can find themselves with inner conflict as to whether they should keep taking their medication. If they do, then they will be able to live their everyday lives, but if they stop maybe, they will be accepted as “normal”, which is in itself, a social construct.
Overall, I intend for my work to be a part of a conversation. The viewer can approach my work and converse internally, or start a conversation with someone else. Our individual struggles may seem solitary, but when the taboo surrounding health is broken, we can see clearly that we are alone. As an artist, I hope that my work offers validation that someday, will be universal. I believe that there shouldn’t be a taboo about the discussion of mental health. The struggles one goes through are valid and should be validated by the world. There are so many things in the world that we cannot control. Death is inevitable; regardless, each day, we take our doses, trying to stay healthy enough to get older. To cheat death.
Self-taught or art school?
I attended art school at California State University Northridge where I received my BA in Arts with an emphasis in painting.
If you could own one work of art what would it be?
It’s hard to pick but I would love to own one of Damien Hirst’s Medicine Cabinets or Pharmacy Wallpaper.
How would you describe your style?
My art style is being able to be apart of a larger conversation. The conversation of health and to be able to use different colours that can express the malaise feeling one may obtain from the medications themselves. It’s also imperfect as the bottles themselves aren’t perfectly straight but rather distorted.
Can you tell us about your artistic process?
Dealing with the subject of health I draw from events that I have encountered personally or am curious about. I begin with the idea of medication. Using assembled photographs and my personal journal entries, I create a place of discussion when it comes to health.
Is narrative important within your work?
Yes, the narrative of being able to be a part of a larger conversation. The viewer can approach my work and converse internally, or start a conversation with someone else. As an artist, I hope that my work offers the validation that someday, will be universal. I believe that there shouldn’t be a taboo about the discussion of mental health or one’s health. The struggles one goes through are valid and should be validated by the world.
Who are your favourite artists and why?
There are several artists that I admire but an artist that I have admired for a while is Beverly Fishman because of her amazing work that engages with the visual language of the medical-industrial complex. Her works are breathtaking and discuss various topics in health as well. There is also Lester Monzon whose work uses patterns and grids in them. He also has these fascinating brushstrokes on top of the grids and patterns. Damien Hirst is another favourite artist because he takes a medicine cabinet into the space of a gallery where one would not normally see one. He also doesn’t limit himself to one medium but rather explores a different form of creating art such as Pharmacy Restaurant & Bar.
What or who inspires your art?
What inspires me are events that I have encountered personally or am curious about concerning health. Especially the things that I am curious about such as the medicine bottle used for prescriptions. How many are used? What is the person in line at the pharmacy getting in that orange bottle? How vital is it for there health? Why is there such a taboo when talking about one’s health? Why is mental health something people don’t talk about? Does this person share the same prescription? The endless amount of questions and wanting there to be an open conversation is what inspires my art.
Where’s your studio and what’s it like?
My studio is inside my house. Merging both a space in my kitchen and living room to create my workspace. I paint in the kitchen where my workspace is both an easel and the kitchen table while half of the living room is set to store my supplies and artworks.
Do you have any studio rituals?
Yes, I do. I prefer to paint in the morning because I find it the best way to start my day. Another studio ritual I have is to always have something playing in the background whether that be music or a tv show.
What are you working on currently?
I am currently working on another series of medicine bottles however these will all be painted on 4×4 inch canvases.
Where can we buy your art?
For those interested in buying my work, you would be able to contact me through my website.
https://www.alexisvanessaramos.com/contact
Not to mention following me on Instagram for new pieces of artwork that aren’t on my website.
@vanessalexi98