Meet Alex O’Keefe 

Alex is an illustrator, zinester, librarian, and storyteller. Her creative work often takes the form of comics, drawings, sewing, and book arts. Her professional work focuses on fostering community in the library through collaborations, fighting mis/disinformation, and all things outreach. She’s also 1/2 of DnA Artists - artists and friends.

Q+A

What expression or saying do you love?

“My candle burns at both ends;

    It will not last the night;

But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—

    It gives a lovely light!”
Edna St. Vincent Millay

I know the whole poem isn’t a common expression, but I feel like burning the candle at both ends is? My grandma used to say the first half of the poem to me, and I would counter with the second half. She hasn’t said it in a while, but it was a ritual we had as far back as when I was in high school. It still resonates, and I say the whole poem in my head often.

What do you geek out about?

If you have no fear of someone waxing poetic about recent American animated series, feel free to bring up any of the following around me: Steven Universe, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, She-Ra, or Centaurworld. But in all seriousness, I find all of these series and their stories inspirational in different ways. Animation is one of my favorite forms of storytelling (tied closely for first with comics), and newer American animation series are becoming more inclusive, sincere, emotionally nuanced, and radical. Solving emotionally complex problems with compassion - on shows meant for kids? So radical, ya’ll.

When do you feel most at peace?

Doing literally any repetitive task alone. I realized over time whether it's creative or not, I’m a very process-oriented person. It’s probably why my first craft-love was cross stitch, why I later enjoyed knitting, and why I now like book and zine-making. Whenever something involves a ‘personal assembly line’ feeling, I get hypnotized by the motion in a very fulfilling way. I surface from these activities hours later, with a satisfying stiffness from the motion, and a clearer mind than before.

What do you do when you feel stuck?

I made a deck for this! (The full breakdown is on my WIP Blog.) I’m a natural list-maker, which normally serves me very well - but there are times I’m overwhelmed by the number of possibilities. Unstructured time is important, but can be daunting. From a variety of inspirations, I created my personal ‘R+R Deck.’ It’s a simple deck of prompts revolving around creativity, play, and exploration that I pull cards from as needed. The most recent one I pulled was “go buy a puzzle and put it together.” These positive disruptions to my patterns, routines, and list-making nature often help shake things loose and foster new ideas.

Favorite quote?

“I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life - and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.” - Georgia O’Keeffe

I swear I didn’t pick it because of her last name. (There’s an extra F in her last name - so we’re not related I swear!) The first time I read this quote I felt a rush of emotion. Knowing someone who is as revered as Georgia O’Keeffe felt fear like me brought a lot of comfort and inspiration. If one badass lady named O’Keeffe could do all that she did while terrified 24/7, why can’t I? 

Want more?

Learn more about Alex’s work here: www.aokvisualartist.com and www.dnaartists.net 

Connect with Alex on Instagram @a.ok.art and here @dna.artists