"Orb Invasion"
The shapes that I draw are called “Hooeys.” I can remember the first time I drew one. I was in middle school math class, where I was supposed to be taking notes. It was in the middle of drawing a comic that I realized I had accidentally drawn a shape that seemed to create itself as it filled the page. From that moment on, I found myself drawing that shape over and over. Before long, the Hooey was born. The Hooey took on lines, zings, and squiggles from my father, who was also an abstract artist. I was living in China in 2020, trapped inside, when I picked up an iPad and began experimenting with the Hooeys in ProCreate. Within an hour or two, my Hooeys finally discovered who they really were, though they have never lost that carefree spirit of childhood—that feeling of being things that create themselves.The Hooeys you see today have come out of decades of practice and experimentation. I am so proud of them. They are the art I would like to see more of in the world.
Medium & dimensions: digital art, 16x20
Alexi most likely inherited his love for art from his father, an abstract artist who raised him in Boulder, Colorado. Any doubts that Alexi would soar to great artistic heights were quickly put to rest when, at the age of 10, he received the Boulder Valley School District Special Art Design Award for Outstanding Achievement in Art. His award-winning science-fair t-shirt design is still worn to this day (by Alexi’s girlfriend). For several years, Hooeys were reserved for the people closest to Alexi, and his small but devoted Instagram following. However, in September of 2022, Alexi’s father passed away, leaving him with a strong sense that the torch had been passed to him. Now, a year and a half later, Hooeys have appeared in multiple art fairs. Alexi’s audience continues to grow, and the support he has received in response has been overwhelming.
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