Alexandra Kehayoglou is a visual artist who re-defines carpet weaving by developing large format sculptures in textile media. She is primarily interested in the production processes linking art to the craft and developing a functional work of art, where the knowledge of materials, technique and the unifying concept of the work are combined as inseparable components. The pieces are produced in her studio from retrieved material from the factory owned by her family. The textile is weaved with a handtuft system using a pistol that the artist manipulates on racks of vertical format to create the weft that will give shape to the final piece. The production process is long and complex, quasi performative, due to the corporeality of the work and the technical precision required.
Her work includes a catalog of memories of different native landscapes that she has visited and wants to preserve from the passage of time. Her pastizales (greenlands), potreros (paddocks), refugios (shelters), and tapestries are presented as sublime realities in which the viewer can participate through contemplation and use of the piece itself. Each of them is unique, with a texture, pattern, and unrepeatable palette that have been created based on her family textile tradition and a personal re-definition of the craft of carpet weaving.
Alexandra Kehayoglou’s latest exhibitions include the Final del Juego, Fortaleza, Elsi del Río, Quinta Trabucco, Elpinicki, and the presentation of the project Pastizal for designer Dries Van Noten at The SS15 Paris Fashion Week. She was also recently awarded 3 special mentions at the BID (International Biennale of Design) in Madrid, Spain, for her work Pastizales.
