Alexander Zastera was born in Jacksonville, Florida and works in Miami, Florida. Zastera has a Masters in Environmental Studies from Florida International University (2023) and has a BFA in Studio art and BA in art history from Florida State University (2014). They are known for their large-scale hypersurreal mystical paintings, found object installations and public performance centered around the environment. Their painting practice starts as conversations, mixers and current events which then get memorialized on to canvas centered around connecting people to share the stories of the South Florida communities. They have been a resident artist in the Miami Dade Library system with ProjectArt USA and a recurrently in residency at the Deering Estate (2024). They have been awarded an Ellie through Oolite Arts (2023) and the Xavier Cortada “Power of Art” award by the city of Palmetto Bay (2023). Their work has been featured at MOCA NoMi (2021), Deep Space Gallery (2018), Superfine! Art Fair: NYC (2018), and & Gallery (2017).
Hurricane-weathered denim
collected objects, fencing wire, & Hurricane Irma recordings. Dimensions Variable
Presented from the personal South Florida encounter of Hurricane Irma,
‘Oracle’ is a swirling hurricane-soaked denim chandelier reminiscent of a baroque ceiling, displays the multifaceted realities of surviving the environmental and social turbulences of 2017. Blue jeans were collected from the community over the course of hurricane season and left out to be washed by the rainy season, including being tied around fence posts as Irma made her way over South Florida. The audio is a mashup recorded from the events during and after the storm, archiving both intimate and communal experience of facing a storm. Objects in the installation allude to growing barriers, foreign meddling, attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, and admissions tipping points of the sociopolitical and environmental climate making up the American landscape resulting in a powerful storm. The current 2024 rendition of this installation was placed outside for Hurricane Milton, sprayed with hurricane water from Helene and has more objects collected from the artist since 2017.
