‘SANDSTORM’ explores late 20 th century nostalgia through cool tinted speed-dealer sunglasses. It’s the year 2000, a unique time to grow up; time has been hurtling towards this arbitrary point, like the inside of a biro being propelled into a popcorn ceiling in the back of a boring class in high school. A hangover from the past combined with dazzling excitement for the future. A silver digicam in one hand and a controller in the other, the PS2 monolith stands tall and the future is ready to unfold. New silver rectangular future fossils appear and become obsolete before you can even decide which one will enhance your life. Searching for clarity on what’s cool in this new sleek world, like uncrumpling tangled headphones in just the right way to hear your favourite song clearly. In the words of Smashmouth I might as well be walking on the sun.

Alex Xerri (b. 1993) is a painter based in Sydney. Her studio practice draws upon documentary and nostalgia, world-building strange landscapes by delving into the natural world through National Geographic magazines and traversing strange scratchy polygonal worlds found in PlayStation gaming. Xerri makes robust textured paintings with acrylic and stone on canvas, and expands into chunky wooden sculptures.

Xerri graduated from National Art School with a Bachelor of Fine Art and a Masters of Fine Art, both majoring in painting. She has exhibited multiple solo shows in Sydney and also a solo in Nottingham, England. She has also exhibited in various group shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and in the USA in New York City, Seattle and Santa Fe. Her work has been featured in various magazine publications and is held in private collections in Australia, North America and Europe.

“In my practice, I have often embraced freedom, yet over time I found this openness to be both overstimulating and exhausting, TIRED CONTROL emerged from stepping back—painting from my own photographs and the landscapes around my current location—as a way to quiet thoughts and slow down the present. This process of focusing on a single subject offered a sense of calm and clarity, a way to regain control through stillness.

As the works progressed, I began to intentionally alter this sense of order. By introducing large blocks of single colours, shifting palettes, and applying mediums with less restraint, the paintings took on a presence beyond my control—something human, and imperfect.

The title TIRED CONTROL reflects this tension: no matter how carefully we hold onto control, it eventually exhausts itself, giving way to change, growth, and new life.

The recurring motif of houses grounds this idea. A home, whether owned or leased, begins with a clear purpose, yet as time passes and hands change, each occupant leaves their mark. Layer upon layer, the structure transforms—shaped by presence, memory, and chance—forever evolving beyond the intent of its first builder.

This body of work sits within that space: between discipline and stepping back, permanence and change, control and the inevitability of its future.