Alexa Kanarowski merges stained glass, sculpture, and photography to surface quiet moments of transparency in the complex systems shaping our world and contemporary landscapes, from desire paths to political borders. Whether referencing the geography of the front garden or the structure of the city block, Kanarowski grounds her work in attention to the cultural residue found in place.
Working with stained glass, she accedes to and distances herself from its traditions, drawing it into contemporary discourse through inclusion of photography and sculptural elements. Kanarowski remains attuned to the history and labor practices of stained glassmaking.
Kanarowski holds an MFA from Oxford University’s Ruskin School of Art and a BFA from Cornell University. Her work has been exhibited across the US and the UK, notably at The Stained Glass Museum (Ely, UK) and the Johnson Museum of Art (Ithaca, NY). She has been the recipient of multiple awards and grants, including the Edith Adams and Walter King Stone Memorial Prize and the BICA Kinetic grant.
Exhibitions
Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2026 Alexa Kanarowski, The Stained Glass Museum, Ely, UK
2025 The Window Won’t Shut All The Way, BICA Project Space, Buffalo, NY
2024 Homewrecker!!! With Mia Brown-Seguin, Show Pony Studio, Ithaca, NY
2022 At the Edge of the World is a Sea, Bibliowicz Gallery, Ithaca, NY
2021 My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys, Olive Tjaden Gallery, Ithaca, NY
19/Nineteen Solo Show, Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, NY
Group Exhibitions
2026 There’s Things (for Robert Creeley), Black Rock Arts, Buffalo, NY
Catastrophe and Diagram, Museum of Cold, Buffalo, NY
Exhibition 005, Worcester College, Oxford, UK
2025 Do Not Go Out Of That Door, BICA, Buffalo, NY
Nocturama, BICA Project Space, Buffalo, NY
2024 Big Orbit, CEPA, Buffalo, NY
Club Heat, The Temporary Contemporary, Buffalo, NY
CEPA Members Show, CEPA, Buffalo, NY
Converge, Contrast, Illude, The Comma, East Aurora, NY
Dewey Decimal System, Hartell Gallery, Ithaca, NY
2022 Bound Books Unbound, Olive Tjaden Gallery, Ithaca, NY
2021 Dog Breakfast, Olive Tjaden Gallery, Ithaca, NY
What Ends Up in a Book, Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, NY
2020 Big F@!&%$# Art Show, Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, NY
Papergirl Brooklyn Papergirl Project, Brooklyn, NY
Inside, Under, Closer, Virtual
STP BFA Show 2020 , Virtual
Mother of Exiles, Cornell AAP, 26 Broadway, NYC
Being Part of the Whole, Nevins Center, Ithaca, NY
2019 Big F@!&%$# Art Show, Tjaden Gallery, Ithaca, NY
2016 Wasatch Back Student Art Show: Year 3000, Kimball Art Center, Park City, UT
2015 Rare Artists Award Show, Capitol Hill, Washington D.C.
Awards and Grants
2024 Generator Fund: Kinetic Grant, BICA, Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts
2023 Colas EPD Photography Contest, Global, 3rd Place
2022 Bibliowicz Family Scholarship in Fine Arts
2021 Edith Adams and Walter King Stone Memorial Prize
2020 Recipient Cornell Council for the Arts Grant
Recipient for 2020, Gibian Rosewater Traveling Research Award
2018 Park City Artists Memorial Scholarship Recipient
2015 EveryLife Foundation Rare Artist Contest, Teen Category
News and Publications
2026 Searching for a New-New Topographics, Cornelia Magazine
2022 Cover image, Crossroads Issue 16 (A Colas USA Magazine)
2021 Foundations, Claritas Journal
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
2020 Vol III, AMO ZINE