Here, we ask an artist to frame the essential details behind one of their latest works.

Bio: Alexandra Karakashian, 36, Cape Town (@alexandra.karakashian)

Title of work: Console (2021–2024).

Where to see it: “Beneath the Broken Sun” at Southern Guild (747 N Western Ave, Los Angeles) until Nov. 14.

Three words to describe it: Monument, body, breath.

What was on your mind at the time: The death of my father, the birth of my children, the world under a broken sun… 

An interesting feature that’s not immediately noticeable: The work is painted with used engine oil.

How it reflects your practice as a whole: Using old engine oil, black pigment, charcoal, salt, and oil paint on canvas and linen, the paintings in my practice employ non-conventional materials and process-led making to meditate on ideas of loss, exile, and individual and collective grief. The canvases are active explorations, coming into being with a sustained aliveness that feels at odds with traditional perceptions of painting’s capacity. The engine oil seeps into the fine warp and weft of the canvas material, forming soft auras around each gesture. This entropic movement cannot be contained; its field of expansion is left to the consequence of fate. 

One song that captures its essence: You tell me?