Ashleigh Alexandria explores issues of gender and race through the painting of bodies. Her medium is partly performative in nature and evokes ritualistic techniques steeped in African and indigenous history as a method of articulating contemporary issues affecting Black and Brown women. Recording the site-specific works with photography and film, Alexandria often distills ideas of visibility, empowerment, and objectification with herself as the subject, as seen in her 2019 Selfie series. She also works in mixed media, paint on canvas, film, and co-founded Souldega, a New York-based women's art collective. Alexandria was born and raised in New York City and studied Fine Arts at Hampton University, a historically Black college in Hampton, Virginia.'
'Virgin Skin' is a retro-futuristic photo series by Fine artist and Director Ashleigh Alexandria. This series is the combination of Alexandria's love for Film/ Film photography and Painting by using Bodypaint as the catapult to convey her message(s). In a society that is fixated on lust to an extent, she strives to use the human body to exhibit dignity and grace, at the same time using her often gritty environments to speak to her subject’s daily raw surroundings. Her works under this series are often a collaboration of the artist and the muse as she designs each work to fit the persona of her subjects. With an eye for fine art, she tends to normalizing nudity by camouflaging its presence, in turn empowering her muses and audience to embrace the vulnerability of Black bodies. Ultimately, her works are made to inspire and impact people, specifically Black and Brown women, using body paint to help them tap into their natural beauty.
