VERDA ALEXANDER — love good color

I will never forget meeting Verda for the first time at her interior design studio, O + A. She was open and vibrant, just like the studio, reflecting her curiosity and her approach to life. She was thirsty to bring new ways of thinking to the studio, and one of the first to support our LOVE GOOD COLOR Workshop. She went further, suggesting things to think about and ways to improve. Needless to say, Verda has become a dear friend. I am always impressed with her commitment to better the Interior Design Industry. Her podcast, “Break Some Dishes”, sheds light on the environmental crises we face under the lens of design and creativity. Verda brought her talent to a recent Project Color Corps collaboration we did with O+A for Raphael House. There isn’t enough room to talk about Verda and her incredible contributions to design.

A view from a window in Orinda. Image courtesy of Verda Alexander

Laura Guido-Clark: WHEN I SAY THE WORD COLOR, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF?

Verda Alexander: I think of the world, and how color makes everything sparkle. I'm lucky to live in a house nestled in the woods and every view out of my windows are green trees. It is so green, and that particular shade of green is the color that sticks in my mind.

LG-C: CAN YOU SHARE A SIGNIFICANT COLOR MEMORY OR YOUR FIRST COLOR MEMORY?

VA: I was born in Nicaragua. When I was around three years old we moved to Columbia and then to Ohio. I could only speak Spanish. I remember a sofa near the window. I would perch on the back of the sofa and look out to the street, the fabric was nubby wool in a faded red color. That color represented a blanket, something that was comforting, but I also felt it was a barrier. I was afraid to go out because I couldn’t talk to the other kids in the neighborhood. Then I learned to speak English!

LG-C: HOW DO YOU USE COLOR FOR SELF-EXPRESSION?

VA: I like to use color as an accent to bring attention to something ordinary. I'm a bit of a disruptor so I also like to use color in unusual or surprising ways, like unexpected combinations of colors.

LG-C: WHICH ONE OF YOUR SENSES, ASIDE FROM SIGHT, DO YOU MOST ASSOCIATE WITH COLOR?

VA: Taste for sure. Color brings food and the anticipation of taste to life. I love my veggies and I always like to curate the most colorful plate I can. I think this comes from my childhood when I lived in Honduras. A vegetable lady would walk up our street to our front gate every week with a ginormous basket balanced on her head. I would always marvel at the colorful exotic fruits and vegetables carefully arranged as she put the basket down on our porch for us to see (and buy!)

The other day though, I made an entirely white meal, a bit by accident, cauliflower, mashed potatoes, and Boudin Blanc. Ha!

I raised chickens for many years, and I was obsessed with the color of the eggs. I hunted for breeds that laid exotic colors like chocolate brown and minty green ones.

LG-C: HOW & WHERE DOES COLOR PLAY A ROLE IN YOUR WORK?

VA: In my art practice I tend to stick to neutrals or primaries because I feel the form or pattern is what’s most important. But I recently started a new series. This one is still in progress, as you can see (if you look closely) I can’t decide on the final colors!

LG-C: WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU SAW LATELY THAT WAS COLOR CAPTIVATING OR REVELATORY?

VA: It was the last show I saw before the pandemic ended. The SECA awards at SFMOMA, which recognizes three up and coming artists. All the artists used color in amazing ways, but I was most struck by Kenyatta Hinkle’s works of vivid orange on orange- orange paintings in an orange-painted room.

Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle's work in '2019 SECA Art Award' at SFMOMA. Image courtesy of Verda Alexander

LG-C: IS THERE ANYONE WHO HAS INFLUENCED YOU WITH REGARD TO COLOR?

VA: When I first started studying art I jumped from Matisse and Bonnard: bright, sunny, and complementary; to Ryman and Rothko: moody, minimal, and expressive; to Irwin and Turrel, color as light.

LG-C: WHAT COLOR CHALLENGES DO YOU FACE?

VA: My challenge with color is that I need to practice more! Mastering color in design or art takes work and time. I need to make the time to experiment and practice. I usually stick to primaries and neutrals in my own work.

LG-C: DO YOU HAVE A PHILOSOPHY YOU WORK BY?

VA: Ha! I wrote this art manifesto a few years back and I think it still applies to my art and to living my life as well!

Make work that is:
-visually indulgent: To indulge is to do something for the sheer pleasure without getting permission from anyone. Something visually indulgent takes the visual to the extreme of excess, and debauchery.

-unfettered: similarly, to be unrestrained, free to explore whatever personal ideas or vision might manifest, and not to prejudge.

-adventurous:, not timid. I will take risks and undertake what might be daring.

-playful:; if the element of play is lost, then all is lost

-that ARE directly about my interests. And I won’t be apologetic about it. Labels can’t concern me, or distinctions of disciplines. Then, what is IS.