Artist Statement  –  Alex Billingham

Visual arts / Live art / Experimental theatre & film / Digital are the core of my practice.

An internationally practice based in the West Midlands UK. I often pull from my own lived experience of being Disabled, Trans, Neurodiverse and Queer. Seeing how these identities collide and intermingle with the world we all live in.

My practice constantly adapts to whichever medium best delivers the work with research and experimentation at the core of my practice. I’m constantly learning new skills to take ideas forward while allowing time for my research to bleed back into my work.

Survival underpins my work. Playing with possible tomorrows to find better ways for us all to survive into the future.

As my mobility gradually decreases due to a climbing injury, I push myself to see where the borderlines of my body are, stripping away all my supports to leave tender and violent work.

Intrigued by the points where Nuclear technology and our fear of it meet, with a particular fascination with the fetishization of Nuclear dread in Western media. Revisiting how we connect with it through a queer perspective. Nurturing an obsession with outdated hopes for the future.

Currently exploring ideas around Permaculture in relation to how we continue to connect with the planet.  considering how we might integrate in a better way and how ‘Othered’ Bodies connect to the landscape. What happens when we retreat to the Neon caverns?

Enjoying an analogue approach to manipulating digital technology, this allows me to realize a low-fi visual style, binding grime with glitter to make beautifully dirty work. I use a mix of technology from homemade Theremins to Digital Synthesizers to build up audio landscapes which augments my visual work. Recreating the Radiophonic soundscapes drawn from childhood memories of sci-fi.

An alumnus of Vivid Projects artist development program Black Hole Club, Studio holder at STRYX Gallery as of 2021 and member of Eastside Projects EOP.

Exhibited internationally with Auckland university of technology and Indus Valley school of art – Karachi. Performing nationally for Tate St Ives / Northen Stage – Newcastle / ]performancespace[ -Folkestone / Little Wolf Parade -Nottingham / Camden peoples Theatre – London / Fierce festival – Birmingham / Contact theatre -Manchester / Edited Arts -London / SHOUT – Birmingham / Provisional Act theatre – The Swan Theatre Worcester / MAC – Birmingham / Birmingham hippodrome / Eastside projects – Birmingham.

SMQB artist in residence 2023

Acquired by The New Art Gallery Walsall for their permanent collection.

Reiterating the need for vulnerability.