Biography
Alex Mason is an Australian artist based in Inverell, New South Wales, whose paintings sit between picture and object. She mixes acrylic with a polymer thickener and works it with palette knives and piping nozzles, building petals that lift away from the canvas in relief.
She arrived at painting by an indirect route, having worked in radio in Brisbane for five years before returning to Inverell, where she took casual work as a youth worker and began painting during the pandemic.
The technique has two sources. Her mother worked in textured paint through the 1990s, which established building paint up rather than smoothing it out as a familiar approach. Mason then began experimenting with palette knives, and after coming across a cake-icing set in a supermarket bargain aisle, started testing the nozzles. The piping proved central to the work: the fine, irregular petals of Australian natives do not readily yield to a flat blade.
Much of her subject matter comes from her parents’ spring garden and its native flowering plants, though her stated influences run through pop culture, music and fashion, and her work follows whatever has her attention at the time. Recent series have moved toward tropical and coastal imagery.
Mason launched her practice in October 2022 and moved to full-time work in March 2023. She placed second in the Inverell Art Prize, held a sold-out debut solo exhibition at Goondiwindi Regional Civic Centre Art Space in September 2024, and exhibited at Affordable Art Fair Brisbane.
작가 소개
알렉스 메이슨은 호주 뉴사우스웨일스주 인버렐에서 활동하는 작가로, 그의 그림은 회화와 오브제 사이에 자리합니다. 폴리머로 점성을 더한 아크릴을 팔레트 나이프와 파이핑 노즐로 다루어, 캔버스에서 떠오르는 부조로 꽃잎을 쌓아 올립니다.
작가는 브리즈번에서 라디오 일을 5년간 한 뒤 고향 인버렐로 돌아왔고, 청소년 지원 일을 시간제로 하며 팬데믹 시기에 그림을 시작했습니다.
기법에는 두 갈래의 뿌리가 있습니다. 어머니가 1990년대에 텍스처 페인팅을 했던 경험이 ‘물감을 매끈하게 펴기보다 쌓아 올리는’ 방식을 익숙하게 만들었습니다. 이후 팔레트 나이프로 실험을 시작했고, 마트 할인 코너에서 케이크 아이싱 세트를 발견한 뒤 노즐을 시험하게 됩니다. 파이핑은 작업의 핵심이 되었는데, 호주 자생화의 가늘고 불규칙한 꽃잎은 평평한 칼날만으로는 쉽게 표현되지 않기 때문입니다.
소재의 상당수는 부모님의 봄 정원과 그곳의 자생 꽃식물에서 옵니다. 다만 작가가 밝히는 영향은 대중문화, 음악, 패션을 관통하며, 그때그때 마음을 끄는 대상을 따라 작업이 이어집니다. 최근 연작은 열대와 해안의 이미지로 옮겨가고 있습니다.
메이슨은 2022년 10월 작업을 본격적으로 시작해 2023년 3월 전업으로 전환했습니다. 인버렐 아트 프라이즈에서 2위에 올랐고, 2024년 9월 군디윈디 리저널 시빅 센터 아트 스페이스에서 연 첫 개인전은 전 작품이 판매되었으며, 이후 어포더블 아트 페어 브리즈번에 참여했습니다.
Practice / 작업 정보
- Practising as — Art by Alex Mason
- Based — Inverell, New South Wales, Australia
- Medium — Acrylic with polymer thickener on canvas; ceramic vessels
- Technique — Palette knife and piping application, worked into relief
- Subject — Australian native flora, with recent work turning toward tropical and coastal motifs
- Full-time since — March 2023
Selected Chronology / 주요 연혁
- Five years working in radio, Brisbane QLD
- 2020–21 — Returns to Inverell; begins painting during the pandemic
- Oct 2022 — Launches her practice as Art by Alex Mason
- 2023 — Second place, Inverell Art Prize
- Mar 2023 — Moves to full-time practice
- 2023 — Selected through the Basics by B artist search (entry: Spring Fling)
- 2024 — Basics by B eyeshadow palette released featuring Mason’s artwork
- Sep 2024 — Debut solo exhibition, Goondiwindi Regional Civic Centre Art Space — sold out
- Affordable Art Fair Brisbane
- 2025–26 — Summer Forever limited edition series; ceramic vase series
Selected Collaborations & Licensing / 협업 · 라이선싱
Australia Post (giftware, stationery) · Basics by B (cosmetics) · Eight Hours (bed linen) · Gemma Lea Wetsuits (wetsuits, swimwear) · Picnic Season (picnic rugs, accessories) · Yogat (yoga mats) · Pink Nade (earrings) · Moe Moe Designs (earrings) · LOQI (recycled totes) · Nuovo Group (greeting cards)
Recent Works / 최근 작업
- Limited edition print series (current) — Summer Forever · Queen of the Waves · Mango Sticky Rice · Hibiscus Girl · Island Time. Available as A3 / A2 / A1 / 60 × 60 cm / 90 × 90 cm editions.
- Objects — Textured vase series (peach, blue); “Mini” originals in small format.
- One-off — Making Waves, a painted surfboard.
