Alexia Benavent-Rivera
Artist Statement:
Identity and cultural background is a huge driving force in my art practice. I am Puerto Rican, Panamanian, and Ukrainian, and the diasporas endured by these groups have strong histories that I refer back to in my work. My work shines a light on the Banana Wars in Central and South America, a time of brutal greed and American imperialism that too often gets brushed under the rug. The effects of these times are still felt today by millions of people in Central and South America, so I work to create awareness of the issue and hold a space for the affected. I create this space for discussion through the symbology of frogs and the bananas the corporations sought so dearly. Frogs are a key symbol of transformation, luck, and abundance in both my home countries of Puerto Rico and Panama, and nightly frog choirs are as sure as the setting sun. I use a combination of textiles and ceramics for these pieces for a multitude of reasons, including the juxtaposition of the soft and approachable fabric banana and the solid rigidity of the ceramic frogs. The frog shapes are hand built out of porcelain clay and arranged into mass swarms or colonies which has an amplifying effect on their presence and ability to hold space. Their coloration is inspired by the history of countless workers stained blue by the Bordeaux Mix pesticide used on plantations, and the bananas are a symbol of a past empire gone to rot and being reclaimed by the land and people it used to rule. In thinking on these images of decay and renewal, I have also been re-examining ideas of memory, nostalgia and longing as a member of a diaspora, as remembering the beauty of where I hold so dear is just as important as acknowledging their sordid histories.
Solo Shows:
De Aqui, De Alla, Morean Center for Clay (2026)
Group Exhibitions and Juried Shows:
Decentered Reframed MFA Thesis Show, FSU MOFA (2026)
Places Within: Diasporic Perspectives on Belonging William Johnston Building Gallery (WJB) (2026)
Echoes of the Ancient in Contemporary Voices, Orlando Museum of Art (OMA) (2026)
Lost in Translation Working Method Contemporary (WMC)(2026)
Locust Technician, Venvi Art Gallery (2025)
Soft Opening, Working Method Contemporary (WMC) (2025)
SECAC (Southeastern College Art Conference) Annual Juried Exhibition (2025)
Tilt your Face to the Kissing Sun, South River Arts Studios (2025)
Vice and Virtue Juried Show, Art Center Sarasota (2025)
Excellence in Visual Arts Exhibition, Honors, Scholars, and Fellows House (HSF) (2025-2026)
Imprinted, Florida State University Gallery (2025)
Little Things, Swan Coach House (2025)
Anything That Moves, Online Exhibition University of Montana (2024)
Common Threads, Working Method Contemporary (WMC) (2024)
SECAC (Southeastern College Art Conference) Annual Juried Exhibition (2024)
Cultura Tallahassee: La Belleza de Nuestra Herencia (2024)
Small Favors, The Clay Studio (2024)
My Job is Art, Working Method Contemporary (WMC) (2024)
Continuous Cycles, Working Method Contemporary (WMC) (2024)
Self Dissection, Working Method Contemporary (WMC) (2023)
Instead of Feathers: BFA Senior Exit Show, University of Georgia (2022)
Intermission: Athens Institute of Contemporary Art (Athica) (2022)
MOOD: Athica Juried Exhibition, Athens Institute of Contemporary Art (2022)
Lyndon House 47th Juried Exhibition, Lyndon House (2022)
Legacy Ball, University of Georgia (2022)
Georgia State Juried Exhibition, Georgia State University (2020)
Magnolia Art Show, Blue Cicada (2018)
Honors and Awards
Merit Award, (Art Center Sarasota Vice and Virtue Show)
Finalist for Honors, Scholars, and Fellows (HSF) Visual Arts Award
Mary Ola Reynolds Miller Endowed Graduate Scholarship in Visual Arts
Merit Award (Lyndon House 47th Juried Exhibition)
Finalist for Bivins-Harrison Award
Publishings/ Interviews
La Horchata Issue #11
Radio Interview with WVFS Tallahassee
Interviewed and featured in Suboart Magazine issue 47
Published Works in Guide to First Year Writing 7th ed. by Elizabeth Sandres Lopez, Andrea Jorjvic, and Megan Malone