His story

Born in August 2000 in Birmingham, Alabama, Alexander James’ adolescence was shaped by a world of contrasts: the rigidity of his athletic life versus the liberty of his imaginative world; the courts of Birmingham versus the desks at Harvard and the

Southern culture of Birmingham versus the wider, multicultural society he would later encounter. These experiences ignited within him an acute awareness of existing between divergent worlds. In his senior year of high school, this sense of contrast deepened when he found himself committed to playing a sport he had only begun a few months earlier, at a school 1,000 miles away in a state he couldn’t even pinpoint on a map—this place was Harvard University.

Cambridge became the new home for Alexander’s unbridled curiosity. A place where he could learn, grow, and experience life amongst some of the world’s brightest minds. A Black man from Birmingham, AL navigating the distinguished halls of one of the world’s most prestigious institutions, Alexander often experienced what W.E.B. Du Bois referred to as “double consciousness”—the internal struggle of reconciling one's sense of self with society’s external perceptions. His journey became an exploration of living between identities, constantly negotiating between being seen and being understood; both personally and socially.

At Harvard, Alexander’s curiosity expanded beyond personal experience into the realm of human behavior and identity on a broader scale. As a sociology major, he was drawn to studying the intersections of race, class, and culture, pulling from theorists like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Sigmund Freud, and Du Bois. These intellectual explorations gave him the language to articulate the tensions he had felt throughout his life—the friction between individuality and societal expectation and between personal truth and social norms. This exploration of identity and society now lies at the core of Alexander’s artistic expression. His work illuminates the complexities of selfhood in a world that imposes labels and categories, using a bold, divergent style to highlight the tension between the self and the external world. Through abstract surrealism and symbolic visual narratives, he contrasts motion and emotion, inviting viewers to confront their own sense of identity. His art offers windows into the souls of those depicted, sparking deeper metaphysical reflection on the essence of self behind what’s been socially constructed.

Alexander’s world has always been one of contrast, existing between creativity and structure, individuality and conformity, visibility and invisibility. Through his art, he aims to challenge and transcend these binaries, offering viewers the opportunity to reflect on their own place within a complex social fabric. Ultimately, his work seeks to bridge the gap between personal identity and societal perception, inviting others to explore their own double consciousness through the ever-changing lens of his creative vision.