Collective Mobilities, 2025, multimedia mobile installation comprised of wood, steel, castor wheels, donated clothes and essentials
Alex Strada
New York, USA
Social Practice
Artist in Residence
Chamberlain Award
↗ www.alexstrada.com
Artist Statement
I use my art practice to reimagine oppressive social systems and create platforms for political dreaming and transformation. Transdisciplinary collaboration with scholars, activists, governmental agencies, students, and artists is at the core of my process. This approach is grounded in the belief that art can bridge disparate voices, challenge systemic siloing, and inspire collective action. I work across a range of media including film/video, installation and sculpture, photography, sound and orality, performance, and public practice. By using malleable materials, I show works widely, both inside and outside traditional art contexts, to engage broad viewers/participants. Each project offers multiple entry points, from materially-driven aesthetic gestures to elicit inquiry to pedagogical workshops geared toward exchange, dialogue, and coalition building.
While at Headlands
At Headlands, I will continue developing “Public Address,” an in-progress, multi-year public art project aimed at destigmatizing homelessness and providing a platform for people living and working in shelters to directly address the NYC public. This project stems from my ongoing role as Public Artist-in-Residence with the New York City Department of Homeless Services and the Department of Cultural Affairs, a position I’ve held since 2022. The residency will offer time and space to mine project materials and prepare for this citywide commission. While in the Bay Area, I hope to reconnect with past collaborators focused on housing and homelessness, such as Moms 4 Housing and ACCE Action, and to forge new relationships.
My work often engages with the complexities of urban systems. The Headlands residency presents a radically different landscape and tempo, offering an opportunity to cultivate a slow, intimate daily practice that includes drawing and writing in the natural environment.
