Blog
Artist Spotlight: Alexandra McGowan
Alexandra McGowan (she/they) is a member of VisArts’ Fall/Winter 2025-2026 cohort of Studio Access Residents. She’s an abstract painter and multimedia artist living in Richmond, VA.
Most of her work is abstract, taking inspiration from tender moments shared with her partner, and experiences with natural ephemera such as shifting shadows on pavement.
When we met up with Alexandra midway through her residency in one of VisArts’ drawing studios, we got the opportunity to observe as she worked on several in-progress paintings. Alexandra’s painting process is intuitive, and she moves with certainty over the canvas, adding fluid acrylic paint first and then sharpening details with chalk pastels inherited from her mother. Read on to learn more about her sources of inspiration and unique creative process.
VisArts: What was your first interaction with VisArts?
Alexandra: My first interaction was attending art shows in the VisArts gallery space for my friends who have also been Studio Access Residents. It’s been exciting to see VisArts give my friends a space to experiment with new mediums and material processes that are harder to access after graduating from arts school.
What are you working on during your residency?
I’ve been continuing my current series of paintings titled “Flow Series,” which are abstract paintings on stretched bedsheets. I also took a silversmithing class and made two silver rings with rose quartz stone settings and a moonstone pendant.
How were you drawn to the medium you work in?
My paintings are made on bedsheets with fluid acrylic paint and chalk pastel. I arrived at these materials through lots of material tests and experimentation. I create my paintings in collaboration with the flow of watered-down fluid acrylic paints on cotton blend bedsheets, which allow the paintings to take in surrounding light. Each painting is a collaboration with the flow of the water, the tension of the stretched cotton, and gravity. I am drawn to the softness and absorbency of bedsheets along with the symbolism of my bed as a place of rest, safety, and queer love.
What are some of your sources of inspiration?
My biggest sources of inspiration are natural ephemera, queer joy, my partner, my bed, and dappled sunlight.
What are you hoping to communicate to the viewer?
I am hoping to communicate a feeling of softness, of an embrace, and of joy.
Alexandra received a BFA in Painting and Printmaking, with a Minor in Art History from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has had work featured in Flat Rate Contemporary’s FRC19, and exhibited work at Second Street Gallery (Charlottesville, VA) VisArts Center (Rockville, MD) and Pamplemousse Gallery, Bond Millen Gallery, and The Material Room (Richmond, VA).
Learn more about Alexandra + her work: Instagram: @alexfromri | Website: alexandramcgowan.com
See some of Alexandra’s work in our upcoming Studio Access Resident Exhibition, Residing Between, on view in the True F. Luck Gallery May 14–24, 2026.
Interests and opinions expressed by artists-in-residence are their own. Learn more about VisArts’ organizational values and code of conduct.