GIF of classical paintings stacking over a piece of parchment that says "objects of desire: on art devotion and the things that move us"

Hi there,

I’m Alexandra Folino, but since we’re going to be friends, call me Allie. I’m a New York City-based creative director and designer who has led the art departments at Glamour, Allure, and Delish, and created work for brands like Google, Disney, Marie Claire and Marc Jacobs. I’m also a fine artist, and my practice explores sensuality, the body, and (you guessed it) desire.

I’ve made a home in the liminal space between observer and creator, balancing the curious, attentive practice of looking at art with the tender and tactile work of making it. Objects of Desire is a place where those two worlds converge.

Expect a bit of everything, including:

✷ An open studio. My work as it comes together, messy middle and all, along with the things inspiring it. Think of it as part inspiration diary, part process journal and part invitation to pull up a chair and make things with me.

✷ A spotlight on art about longing, and art that conjures it. The artists and works I can’t stop thinking about, and why they stay with us.

✷The pull to create. A look at how other artists work, the slow & stubborn process of making things, and the clever ways we avoid doing the thing we most feel called to do.

✷The gaze, the body, and the politics of wanting. Who gets to look, who gets looked at, and how artists on the margins have used their work to take their bodies back. Along the way, we’ll consider the eroticism of devotion, how desire is constructed and how we’re permitted to express it.

Red and purple imagery scattered across a wall in a moodboard collage — An *Objects of Desire* moodboard, pinned to my studio wall.

Consider this an exercise in paying attention to what draws us in, what sustains our gaze, what shapes our desire, and what we choose to make in response.

You in? Good. I’m so glad you’re here. Here’s a little something to set the mood 🌀🎵

If you’ve been feeling the pull to create, let this be your kindling 🔥Rest assured, I’ll be right here cheering you on. More soon, xx

Alexandra (that’s Allie to you)

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An Exploration of Art, Devotion & The Things…