Spring I Summer 2004 – Spring 2010
The Human Form + A Land on Canvas: BOUND, UNBOUND
Stifled by her small, bare New York apartment, Alden left the city in 2004 in pursuit of literal new horizons and an inspiring environment in which to create. She moved to the Big Island of Hawai’i seeking quiet, space, and natural beauty. As a young artist in her mid-twenties living in a society and culture that were both foreign and new to her, she freely embarked on a period of fearless creative experimentation and personal exploration of gender, power, and spirituality through various mediums. She moved from voyeur of human and natural subjects to creator and artist manipulating nature and materials to the role of subject in her own creations. She focused primarily on photography, combines, painting, and, interestingly enough, landscaping as an art form. During this time, her work captured themes of sexuality, feminism, nature, and the human form. Though she had originally sought peace on the Island, her time in Hawai’i marked one of chaos and unrest, and was her most ambitious and ambiguous collections of work.