She still remembers her first little red box of Prismacolor, received at the age of three. The Fine Arts graduate has always been fascinated by the representation of the human body. She drew tirelessly, she painted, she exhibited. With her art, she wants to touch people.

A few days ago, she paid tribute to Danièle Henkel by painting the businesswoman's face on her own bust, surrounded by flowers representing her many accomplishments. A moving experience for both entrepreneurs, and an opportunity to talk to the artist about her incredible story.

"Taming the beast"

This is the title of her first exhibition, after two years in her studio, creating to forget, creating to get out of a depressive state and a difficult past. The turmoil, an omen of fame? Perhaps. The young twenty-something then exhibited in the four corners of the planet, including London, Paris and Los Angeles. In 2015, she received the medal of the National Assembly of Quebec, hung next to that of the Allied Artists of America in New York, and all the others. The distinctions piled up. And yet, the girl who paints with a passion in her guts drew her dream from the bottom of an empty stomach, when three meals a day were nothing more than an obsession that gurgled angrily.

Alexandra Bastien is a being of metamorphosis and adaptation. A go-getter, a fighter, a woman who has seen it all and who, when necessary, takes a direction without looking back. She discovered the limits of existence very early on, she teetered on the edge of tempting abysses. She has been working seven days a week for 25 years. The causes that are close to her heart and for which she is a spokesperson are numerous. Among others, domestic violence and the fate of the elderly. She has chosen to put her art at the service of society: creating to reach out. Hyper-sensitive, her character makes her an astonishing artist, and above all, moving.

Body painting, a new direction

Alexandra began her career as an illustrator. At fourteen, she was already going to the United States to illustrate the Star Wars series. Then she had her Fine Arts period. "In 2011, I started to get tired of that life. I had exhibited in more than 160 museums and 75 cities, I had won all the prizes and scholarships I wanted." She then turned to teaching visual arts to the elderly: "I wanted to make a difference in my community, to shine my light by touching people and working with them." No more isolation in her studio, months of preparing openings. In 2016, she wanted to create living and ephemeral works. On weekends, she does body makeup to celebrate public figures, for special events or charities. "I came to body painting a bit by chance. It's an art form that moves, that breathes, that lives! It did me a world of good and I fell in love with it."

“I started doing it for a year at my own expense, to get myself known in that world. I would paint my girlfriend in public restrooms, we would sleep in my car. I would go to events I wasn’t even invited to! I would show up with a fully painted model at a launch, people would think I was part of the show and let us through. That’s how I got back to the States. The next day, I was doing the front pages . I was really intense, I wanted so badly to realize my dream of being an artist! Then, the big money started rolling in and I was getting paid huge sums for weekends in Hollywood and elsewhere.”

The pandemic, or the art of doing a 360

A year and a half before the pandemic, the artist was flying at a hundred miles an hour. She had done everything to break down doors, and she had succeeded. "In March 2020, the life I had built was destroyed." No more contracts, no more travel, no more exhibitions, no more teaching. "I experienced hundreds of bereavements."

“I spent five solid days moping in my bed. Then I said to myself: I have the choice to freak out or continue painting. Since I no longer had access to my models, since I was in confinement, I painted myself, like Frida Kahlo, upside down, with broken wrists, with two hands even, 18 hours a day. It was my way of getting by financially and mentally, of doing art therapy on myself. For me, being an artist is a fight alone. But I have so much fire in me, so much passion.”

"One day, I painted François Legault on my face. I sent it to my friends, they all loved it, so I decided to put it online. In 48 hours, it had gone viral."

Promoting yourself through social networks

Alexandra learned to put herself forward, “an unimaginable challenge of personal confidence”, and to use social networks. “I didn’t even have a camera, not enough makeup, I had never done a live. I always hid behind my models. Suddenly, I had to show who I was, put my body and my face in the forefront, have opinions and talk to my fans. But I quickly realized that I had no choice, I was the branding! It was survival that pushed me to put myself forward, and it changed my life”.

Certainly, many have a love-hate relationship with social networks. "People need to know who you are, where you come from, what you like, what you do, what your artistic approach is, your creative process, your background, etc. When you are an artist entrepreneur, I think you have no choice but to put yourself forward, I don't see how you can miss out in 2022. That's how people can get attached to you, by getting to know you, by chatting with them. You have to make them want to buy a work of yours," insists Alexandra.

Although she was initially affected by the criticism and comments about her, Alexandra is now confident. She has purple hair. She sparkles, she sparkles. For two years, she has been doing body painting on herself, she hosts, she sings, she makes video clips, impersonations, TV shows, murals, public art. "On my bucket list , I've checked off a lot of things! I've mastered all the artistic mediums and I know how to put forward my uniqueness to sell myself as an artist. Now, I'm going to let life guide me." The multidisciplinary artist has just learned to tattoo...

“We’re not here long,” she said. “I’ve seen them waste away and leave, my elderly. We don’t have time to lose. I see challenges now as propellants. You have to know how to transform burdens into gifts.”

To watch the meeting between Alexandra Bastien and Danièle Henkel, click here.