Concrete artist Kem Alexander works on a commission in her home studio.ABOUT HER
• Name: Kem Alexander.• Hometown: Chattanooga.• Education: BFA in painting, Memphis Academy of Arts.• Occupation: Artist, 12 years working with concrete and metal.• Family: Three children ages 30, 29 and 25.• Hobbies: Open-water swimming and “the eternal house renovation, which includes laying floors out of cedar rounds and granite cobblestones. In the summer, I go to freshwater lakes. I do not swim to compete but to be quiet.”• Last book read: “Waterlily” by Ella Cara Deloria.• Other than your own, whose art is in your home? Daryl Thetford, Lisa Norris, Katherine Linn, Valerie Fleming and Rachel Schulson.
Sixty-three of the state’s most-talented artists entered the Tennessee Association of Craft Artists Biennial: The Best of Tennessee Craft show at the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville.
Kem Alexander’s concrete boots walked away with TACA’s top prize, Best in Show, as well as the Purchase Award, which meant her piece was bought for the museum’s permanent collection.
Alexander, a concrete and metal artist who works in her home studio in North Chattanooga, is well-known for her creative, funky collection of sculpted concrete. Her pieces range in price from $20 to $3,000.
Her imagination has produced everything from concrete bustiers with barbed-wire straps to a variety of shoes that would make Imelda Marcos envious.