University of Ottawa
Alexia-Leana Kokozaki is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Ottawa. Her work in photography and installation involves recontextualizing familiar objects and figures within anomalous spaces or narratives in order to create images that trigger curiosity and perplexity. She is interested in the juxtaposition of differential elements as well as in the questions that can arise from such pairings. Her photographs appear to belong to both a tangible and intangible reality since what is photographed seems to be malleable and physical yet is unmistakably constructed and unnatural. As such, a certain theatricality and quirk pervade her photographs and her depictions of reality range from direct representation to total abstraction.
Alexia-Leana Kokozaki, Tulle, Plastic, Pebbles (And Light), 2015, Digital Photogram
From the jurors:
Over a diverse body of work, Alexia-Leana Kokozaki displays a voracious curiosity with what the medium of photography can accomplish, while demonstrating a sustained interest in the limits of contextualization. Her photographs both point outside of the frame and make strange that which appears within it. Her experimental attitude and ability to conjure conversation in the mind of the viewer distinguished Kokozaki among this year’s candidates.
