Interview with Alexia Whyte

Words by Meg Bulmer

On Monday the 31st of January the Norman Rea Gallery’s first ever queer-themed exhibition opened, entitled queer!; the exhibition featured artworks, poetry and music by queer artists, writers and musicians. The aim of the exhibition was to create a safe space to celebrate ‘queer diversity, empowerment, and joy’ (NRG queer! press release); the gallery featured a diverse range of brilliant artworks by 37 queer artists, one of whom was Alexia Whyte, who agreed to answer my questions about her artistic journey and the message she hopes people will find in her work:

M: How did you start your journey as an artist?

A: I began as a young musician, a pianist first and then multi-instrumentalist, composer, and sound engineer in Paris.

My mother died while I was still young and barely beginning a promising professional musical career. It impacted me a lot. I sold everything I had, and began a long journey through Europe that lasted 14 years and stopped only last year in 2022. 

During my travelling years, I lived by chance in the oldest Art Studios of Brussels for several years and began there to study and live as a painter. I was surrounded by a community of 36 artists and I felt safe enough to express myself in this nurturing nest. 

I used to be a model for all the art academies around, to pay the bills, which allowed me to produce my first oil painting series. It was called Silent Stars and was related to all those beautiful stars of the silent era of Hollywood’s cinema of the 1920’s, who didn’t make it after the sound came out and fell into oblivion or worse… took their own lives.

Years after this series, I realised that this was my way of processing the death of my mother, who was a gorgeous woman, and became a star much too soon.

So yeah, I guess, I owe her this love for visual empowerment and creativity, for which I now devote my Life and all my energies.

An oil painting from Alexia’s series Silent Stars

M: What inspires you to create your art?

A: I love stories, experiences, adventures... I have been travelling and living in 7 different countries, in such beautiful places, sometimes in crowded capital cities, other times in desert volcanic islands, or in typical far away countryside… 

I have been absorbing different landscapes, different people, different cultures, and so many different ways to express love and live life I guess.

I am inspired by textures of the walls in all the cities I have lived in, 

also sacred geometry, sacred sexuality, all the layers of transparencies I perceive all around and their beauty, but really, most of all, women!

Strong women, leaders, healers, lovers, mothers, daughters, elders, creators, uplifting and challenging beings, whom I loved and still love deeply.

Expressing my emotions as an artist and creator of my Life, allows me to select the ones I wish to see more in our World. It is my way of being who I am truly, whole, at peace, loving and loved, inspired and inspiring.

M: Who is your favourite queer artist and what is your favourite queer artwork?

A: There is such a great amount of queer talented artists 

for whom I am so grateful for… 

The devotion of Leonardo Da Vinci to begin with, 

the visions of Hilma af Klint, 

the inner world of Francis Bacon, the persistence of Egon Schiele, 

the braveness of Frida Khalo, the darkness of Caravaggio, 

the boldness of Elisabeth-Louise Vigee Le Brun, 

 the whole spectrum of who was Marlene Dietrich, and all those Berlin cabaret dancers and nightlife goddesses…

I am also quite fascinated by queer slam poetry these days. It's alive, raw, wild, sensitive, deep, and filled with so many genuine talents from all over the world! 

For an artwork in particular, 

“You better be lightning” by Andrea Gibson is a very welcomed gem for instance.

M: If there was one message that people took away from your work, what would you want it to be?

A: Beyond any illusion of separation

We are Energy in Motion

We are ephemeral beings made of stars

So may we shine meanwhile being alive

And remember who we truly are

May we create more Love while we can, more Joy, more Kindness, 

More Wisdom, more playful Sensuality, more Sacred Sexuality, 

And call it a Life, a journey well lived and for the good of All

"Soul Kitchen" - 80x120 cm Spray paint on linen by Alexia Whyte

M: This exhibition is a celebration of queer joy, diversity and empowerment - what role do you feel your artwork plays in this celebration?

A: Hopefully a powerful and attractive one!

May it inspire minds and souls to remember why we are here in the first place, 

and who we are really. 

Empowerment is like a second effect of being whole and authentic 

and embodying this endless stream of Life we are!

Joy is what we are too, as Love! And because it still exists on the planet, places where Love is not allowed and banned, where Love is used as a reason for killing masses, we have to show up, until Love wins.

We are on Earth just passengers… We are asked to celebrate this gift for the time we are alive! I have lost so many friends and families, I am aware that Life is to be celebrated every day, for big and for small wins. And really, for just being alive, every morning.

M: What’s your greatest hope for the future of the queer community - both in the art world and in general?

A: I wish we could all remember our tremendous power and beauty, and use it for creating more Consciousness, more Love, more Happiness and Union, 

more Peace on a daily basis. 

I feel this is our responsibility.

In the Art world, in our own Lives, everywhere, all the time. 

I wish our community unite into more Love around the world, 

and choose to rise above fear once for all. 

I wish that we could be the most powerful example of how 

vulnerability IS the new strength.

May we thus inspire everyone to come back to one’s soul, 

and listen to it carefully, and choose to act towards one’s own purpose only. 

For we came here with healing to do, 

on ourselves first, and then naturally radiate it lovingly all around too.

A watercolour by Alexia Whyte

Alexia’s beautiful and thought-provoking responses to these questions demonstrate the importance of queer expression and the necessity for us to continue to cultivate and nurture spaces for queer artwork to be celebrated and enjoyed; we hope that our queer! exhibition has been a space for people to do just that. The exhibition will be up until Saturday the 11th of Feb, so make sure to come by and see Alexia’s works and the rest of the pieces on display!