Generative art refers to art that has been created with the use of an autonomous system. An autonomous system in this context is mostly a computer program which can independently determine features of an artwork that is pre-defined by the artist.

Alexa Wagner

The dynamics and speed seem to steadily increase in today’s world. Digital technologies are a catalyst to this development with human nature driving it. It leads to us being online and reachable 24 hours a day with our phones always in reach because of the fear of missing something out. At the same time the demand for for guidance and orientation grows trying to compensate for the felt loss of control due to dynamics and speed in our lives.

“Nervous Shapes“ expresses this human phenomenon using with groups of circles, rectangles and lines with high frequency moments always waiting for the next information snippet when the phone vibrates. While sometimes there is a magnetic effect added which gives at least some kind of guidance and orientation to the group. Overall Nervous Shapes is basically a mirror of today’s society, with also the viewers identifying themself somehow within and as part of the artwork.

on Meraki – The first generative Art Platform on Polygon

The Artist

Alexa Wagner is a Munich (Germany) based artist. In 2007 she opened the VernisArt Studio (www.vernisart.de). There she started to create and sell her work in quite different styles under pseudonyms.

After this initial experimentation phase Alexa focused to work under her own name in 2010 and painted the first black and white in acrylic, which became her signature style. Pieces like „Mann mit Hut“ (man with hat) and „Zwei Gesichter“ (two faces) are highly recognized in the German art scene. During the following years works like „Neugier“ (curiousness) and „Das Alter“ (the age) underlined the unique style and impression.

This led to a more form and function orientated phase of her creations in 2015. First, with adjusting her unique black and white acrylic style also to ornaments in paintings like „Formen“ (shapes). Second, with dimensional surfaces using additional material like linen and glue for „Wellen“ (waves).

In 2020 during the COVID-19 lock-down Alexa decided to make best use of the time at home by learning „computers“ (supported by her husband Ralph ;-). This opened a complete new dimension of creativity. Inspired by the CryptoArt movement (and her husband) the first work with generative art is the (sold out) NFT collection CryptoRalph in 2021 (www.cryptoralph.io).

To give this new activity stream in her artwork an own framework, Alexa founded in 2021 GENSTUD.IO (www.genstud.io) which released „Nervous Shapes“ in partnership with Meraki – the first generative art platform on Polygon in 2022.

„Nervous Shapes“ was starting the next phase for Alexa’s work. It allows her to combine traditional painting skills with computer programming to express not only the power of form and function, but also of movements.