excerpts from All the Colors of the Dark

For the past few years, I’ve been composing collages based on typographic forms; prior to this, my work had consisted primarily of surreal, dreamlike narratives and were purely figurative compositions. I have always, however, loved creating abstract work as well, and wanted to gradually move this aesthetic to the forefront of my working practice. My love of words came together with my love of abstract compositions in this recent phase of work.

Most of the texts in the collages selected here stem from giallo film titles; phrases intended to convey the lurid, spectacular quality of the films, but which in themselves have a surreal, lyrical quality. I enjoy their inadvertent similarities to the literature of magic realism, despite having been written with completely different intentions. Giallo films in and of themselves are colorful, pulpy affairs, and I attempted to echo this energy in the lines, shapes, and textures of the snaking branches I constructed.

Alexis Mackenzie‘s work has been exhibited internationally, including solo shows in San Francisco, Chicago, and Los Angeles. She holds a BFA from Tufts University/School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Her work has been reviewed in the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the San Francisco Chronicle, among others, and has appeared in numerous publications, including Zeit Magazin, and The New York Times Sunday Magazine. She currently resides in San Francisco, California. More of her work can be viewed at http://www.alexisanne.com