About

Bio

Alexis Herman (b. 1962) is a contemporary representational painter who explores the regulating and meditative qualities of water. Her paintings are characterized by simple organizing compositions and richly saturated colors capturing water’s transfixing moments.

Herman has been exhibited along the east coast including at Kelly-McKenna Gallery and featured Showcase Artist at 14C Art Fair and has been featured in several publications including New Visionary Magazine, Create! Magazine (upcoming) and To the Shore Once More. Her work is held in private collections throughout the United States and Europe. She received her BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology and her MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business.

 Herman resides in Little Silver, New Jersey.

 Artist Statement

Water has always been a grounding force in my life. This started with spending countless hours as a child in the creek and frolicking in the surf. Today it is surfing and sailing, where I observe the shape of waves and the surface quality reflecting the surrounding environment and human influences. Painting my memories of water allows me to dispel internal struggles while solidifying the essential feelings of peace and place.

For my family, water's regulating qualities have had a profound effect. Finding a symbiotic balance between my son, who is neurodiverse, and me requires constant energy, learning, and modifications. This journey is an errant path that benefits from frequent respite and restoration. The ocean provides this for both of us. For me, observing and harnessing wave energy; for my son, watching and feeling the visceral impact of wave collisions. Water calms and fascinates me. It forces me into the present moment, allowing me to block out other thoughts. Suspending time, I feel everything and nothing all at once. Water’s surface can transfix my gaze and invites me to become part of its rhythm. When I am submerged in the practice of painting water, a weightless tranquility envelops me; I feel at home.

In my current work, I choose to portray water in a calm state, offering a sensual quietude while inviting curiosity. Simple organizing compositions peacefully shut off the outside world. Richly saturated colors invite us in. Focal points, created with depth of field, mirror being present in nature's vastness. Water's reflections and level of translucency hint at what has been and what is ahead. My process of oil painting relies on close observation and a mental synthesis of how water works. I then transform this understanding using traditional and digital sketching techniques, followed by value and color studies. Sometimes I utilize a monochromatic underpainting, oftentimes finishing with a relatively smooth transition between values and hues. The overall objective is to capture that transfixed point in time.

My art explores my relationship with water and its regulating effect on my neurodiverse family. Water is our solace. When I feel solidly grounded, I sketch water enveloping my parenting experiences while honoring divergent perspectives and showing how water's strength overrides any struggle. For my family and my audience, I seek to communicate the hopeful respite that I find in the ocean, offering a common ground for all.