Galería Hanbell
Alexandra Mireanu
Flying from Cambodia to Thailand, words started pouring out of her. She wrote for hours recounting the details of her adventures. She felt safe and at home in the midst of her writing - returning to this home every day since.
As a woman who faced innumerable challenges in her early 20s, Alexandra knows what it means to rebuild a life and heal from chronic pain. She is here to share her story on love, resilience and what it means to believe in yourself. Alexandra's debut poetry collection will soon be available! You can follow her journey and reach out directly @alexandra.mireanu on instagram.
Artist: Alexandra Mireanu
Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Instagram: @alexandra.mireanu
What are some positive traits that you believe you carry?
Curiousity. I’m incredibly curious about humans; how we think, why we feel what we feel and the meaning behind our experiences. Writing is an attempt to understand what we can unfortunately never fully comprehend. It’s a lifelong endeavor, but it’s worthwhile for the discoveries you make along the way. It’s these discoveries, learnings, lessons that bring meaning and colour to my life. I can study the inner workings of my intimate relationships through writing. Oftentimes I can see so much more clearly what I’m feeling when I write, because my contradicting thoughts and mental patterns no longer cloud my heart. I’m able to see my words for what they are - descriptors of my own experience. And it’s my curiousity to uncover the truth - whatever truth I can - that always brings me back to the written word, no matter how far I stray.
What prompted you to want to be an artist?
I have always loved language, the way words are elegantly written on a page. When I started writing my own words, there was an inexplicable thrill to it. I felt free - as though I could say anything I needed to without consequence. No one else needed to see these words; them existing within me and now on the page was enough.
Travelling in Southeast Asia for the first time in my early adult years brought me the inspiration I needed to write. Poetry came pouring out of me on an intercity flight. Before I knew what was happening I had picked up a pen and paper, writing the words that came. I didn’t plan it, Icertainly didn’t expect it, but nevertheless it happened. As all great stories and acts of love, writing poetry on that trip was the start of an inward journey to understanding my world and how I felt about its happenings.
What themes do you pursue?
My poetry explores heightened emotions in love, loss, relationships and with oneself. These themes are central to our existence and how we experience the world, and my aim has always been to better understand the world around me.
Do you have any long-term goals? How do you ensure that you are moving along that path?
When I first began writing, it was out of necessity; something in my being was calling me to. When I write nowadays, it is out of choice. The world is not demanding that I be a writer. I am not expecting myself to be a writer. But it is a passion I want to pursue. I want to see what I’m capable of if I write on a consistent basis, if I harness my creative energy. What will happen then? What will I produce? Who will I become? This is the path I’m most intrigued by - discovering who I am.
What's integral to the work of an artist?
The space to reflect the past and ponder the present - this is essential for a writer. A safe,
creative space where one can come back to their state of ‘flow’ needs to be undisturbed by the outside world. It could be a corner of your home that brings you peace, your garden or a place out in nature that you retreat to. It could be your kitchen table. What’s important is not where, but rather how you feel each time you return there. This space should calm you enough to excite and energize your creative flow.
