Q&A: Aleks Crossan
From theatre stages to towering sculptures, Tasmania-based artist Aleks Crossan is navigating a bold creative journey - and she’s not afraid to break some rules along the way.
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Aleks Crossan (image: Bliss Sandhu)
Where did you grow up, and what brought you to the bottom of the world?
I was born in Vienna, Austria, and spent most of my childhood in Switzerland before going to boarding school in the United States, where I was really drawn to the creative and performing arts, particularly theatre and singing.
Back in Switzerland in my 20s, I met my husband Donovan, who had both Australian and Swiss citizenship. His parents had come to Australia from Switzerland to get work when they were younger.
Donovan and I had three children in Switzerland, and by the time our eldest was 10 years old, we felt the immense pressure on kids to get good grades at school to be able to secure a good job. We believe that there should be so much more to life than that, so we decided to move to Australia to take that pressure off our children. We made the move to join some of Donovan’s family in Tasmania in 2003.
You founded a dance company in the early 2000s, and have had a successful choreography and musical career. What sparked the change of creative direction into painting?
I was working in the theatre space when Covid hit, and I wasn’t keen on the idea of rehearsing with a mask. I realised that I needed to find something that I could do without other people. I had dabbled with and really enjoyed painting when I was pregnant with my son Merlin, and this felt like the right time to return to it. I started with drawings - lines and inks, playing it safe - but in 2023, I found a really cool studio on a private property in Moonah, and started properly painting.
I’ve always considered myself an artist, but now my focus is very much on visual art.
How do you describe your artistic process in approaching a new work?
For me, it’s a really psychological process, and a lot of trying not to censor myself. I’ve read a lot of books about human behaviour and behavioural economics, and I find that I really observe myself as I’m painting. I don’t try to make it nice or pretty, I just want it to be real.
This means that I never know how my pieces are going to end up. Some artists have post-it notes on the wall with a whole plan for their work from start to finish, but that isn’t my style. I’m more interested in the idea of not having a goal when you begin, but finding that really authentic thing in the process.
I like to think that when you look at my art, you’ll see how I’m allowing the bits of me that are a bit uncomfortable or weird to come out, and that it will give you licence to do the same. It’s about self-acceptance.
Aleks Crossan’s Fee Fi Fo Fum exhibition at Salamanca Arts Centre (image: Aleks Crossan)
You’ve also been creating sculptures, including a collection of crowns for your recent solo exhibition Fee Fi Fo Fum. How did this new direction become part of your practice?
Sculpture has been a way of extrapolating what I was already doing and liking. The crown, for example, was one of the first elements that I included in a painting, and making it into a sculpture provided a new challenge. I’d never made them before, I didn’t know what I was doing, so I didn’t know what rules I was breaking. There’s a real freedom in that to figure out the stuff that you might not otherwise.
The new challenge I’m thinking about now is how I can make these sculptures bigger. I’d love to make them 10 metres tall, and have them exhibited in public spaces for people to interact with.
Aleks Crossan’s Fee Fi Fo Fum exhibition at Salamanca Arts Centre (image: Aleks Crossan)
Where are your favourite places to dine out in Nipaluna/Hobart?
We live in Blackmans Bay, and our local favourites are Boho at the Beach and Robbie Brown’s, both down at Kingston Beach. For a great dinner out, I love Annapurna in North Hobart - it’s the only place to go for Indian.
The best takeaway coffee is from Rahul and his team at Bathurst Street Bagels. My daughter and I both love their blend - it’s creamy, not too acidic, and they make it extra hot for me.
You recently wrapped up your exhibition at Salamanca Arts Centre. What’s next for you?
I’ll be painting a 7 x 7 metre mural at Thoroughfare, Launceston’s inaugural street art festival in the last weekend of March. Beyond that, I’ll be in my studio, creating and staying open.
