Iconography can tell a story. Believing it’s subtle power shapes us, Alessandra Maria's work is an attempt to create a modern feminist idol, to redefine feminine divinity and to combat objectification and dehumanization. Her work re-imagines traditional depictions of female divinity. Throughout history, and particularly within the Abrahamic religions, feminine power has been embodied in three forms with few exceptions: the virgin, the whore, and the mother. Put another way, women's highest expression of virtue was defined insofar as their being a vessel for someone else child. The echoes of these restrictive archetypes inspire her to create icons whose power transcends that of a woman's physical vessel, who’s sexuality evokes strength, stalwartness, and edge regardless of sexuality.
“Though she graduated from Pratt Institute only in 2012, rising artist Alessandra Maria is already
making waves with her delicate, mixed-media artworks.” - Hi Fructose Magazine
“Alessandra's beautifully eerie illustrations appear to be illuminated by the night sky.
Her subject's glowing eyes make us wonder who exactly they are.”-Juxtapoz Magazine
Collections: Femme to Femme Fatale: The Feminine in Contemporary Art
Type: Original Artwork