Written by Deanna Ruff

In Alexis Hunter’s newest body of work, we’re granted permission to enter a deeply personal, but not solitary, portal and arrive on a Friday morning at Swim Club. Today Is A Wonderful Day. I’ve Never Seen This One Before… marks Hunter’s inaugural presentation with Ivester Contemporary, comprising eleven new pieces: a video work, two site-specific installations, and various oil paintings on panel. References for this collection are from Hunter’s most admired natural resources across Central Texas, including Barton Springs, Emma Long Park, Blue Hole, and the San Marcos River.

The work relies on the symbolic and psychological impact of watering holes to enchant and remind viewers of the ways it has shaped/held humanity. This sacred resource has offered transience and renewal for millennia. Within this series, the audience is gently coaxed into the season of Hunter’s life that she has always dreamed of. In her last exhibition, HAVEN’T I GIVEN ENOUGH???!!, the primary piece, IT’S ALIVE!, featured Hunter warped and writhing in rage—a necessary and visceral response to the overturn of Roe v. Wade. In that world of mayhem, viewers could not escape the sirens nor the man-made violence that mutated her.

However, the theme granted throughout this world is one of calm, as if we’re summoned to drift alongside her in an era of pure salvation. At the heart of the exhibition, we greet Hunter, in her familiar nude presentation, set against a hallucinatory cosmic-toned palette, but this nude body brings something contextually different. By grounding in communal rituals like Swim Club, Hunter challenges the notion that personal transformation happens in isolation. For her, healing trauma is collective, nonlinear… buoyed by joy and connection. By referencing the restorative properties of nature and friendship, the audience is encouraged to take pause. To float, in spite of the catastrophes outside our door. It’s understood that, yes, peace of mind is hard to keep, but here, perhaps, we’re suspended in it.

Hunter urges us to ask what happens when we show up for ourselves, even at our worst. What happens when we listen with intention? What happens when we cultivate deeper, more meaningful relationships? Swim Club and nature have been the answer for Hunter. A space that requires a little effort for a beloved reward. Through the blended layers of acceptance, belonging, and identity Hunter constructs, viewers are invited to acknowledge the heart work and stay a while. Bask in the sun, feel a little deeper, and take the time to watch light dance on the surface of water. Have a seat on the blanket island, rest. Listen close, hear the spring of the diving board, splashes, and birdsong. Laughter. Maybe we’ll leave believing—it all works out in the end.