Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyx Warren
Hi Alyx, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Before starting my small business on Etsy or opening my store Alyx Unchained at The LOvely antique shop next to park ave cds, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I always loved art and I always loved helping others. Art and creativity always came so easy to me. Growing up I never fit in in school. Constant bullying led me to intense mental illness by age 14. A major depressive disorder diagnoses has had me medicated for the last 11 years. I was never good at understanding social ques or reading people. I never thought I was meant to fit into this world and suffered suicidal ideation ever since.
I became an activist at an early age after becoming aware of just how much suffering in the world there is. But since the genocide in Gaza I have been in hyper drive starting about a year ago. The Palestinian people are very near and dear to my heart because of my family and Palestinian influences to my childhood. I also participate in feeding the houses communities in downtown Orlando. Which I would have not been able to accomplish without the help of my dear friend and roommate Nikki Graves. She has been such an inspiration to me. She was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma two months ago and is now in hospice. To say I am heart broken is an understatement. She deserves so much more praise and recognition than she has received.
When it comes to my journey as an artist I went to Lynn university in 2017 and graduated with my AA degree in graphic design. I do free lance work but I have been lucky enough to build an impressive portfolio. October 31st I have a wallpaper line coming out with my best friend Morgan Presley. Every detail was drawn by me, taking at least a couple hundred hours to complete. I am still very early in my career and if I’m being honest I wish I could say I’m exactly where I wish I was. I was glad to do the wallpaper for my friend but I will only be earning 4% of the sales. I have hope that this will promote my graphic design career.
Besides graphic design I have always, from a very very early age, loved painting, drawing, fashion design, and pottery. Even though I have not pursued it professionally I have also always been a great singer and it is a secret passion of mine. With my stores I design and hand make clothes and jewelry. You can find me also vending at places like goblin market and milk mart. I have dedicated years of my life to perfecting my craft. Unfortunately as a struggling artist who also suffers from mental illness I find it hard sometimes to continue my passions. You can find me at my vending gigs selling Zines to raise money for the people of Gaza, where I have been ablto to raise more than 1,500$.
The scenes I have witnessed in Gaza have permanently damaged me. I have lost contact with my friends in northern Gaza and I fear they are gone. Without them I would have not had a connection to get the money I raised to the people and families that need it. I am happy to have helped hundreds of families in jabalie receive clean drinking water. Videos of the donation at work are on my social media accounts.
As for who I am today, I can say I love myself, I love who I am, and I love life. I have amazing friends all over the world. I still struggle with mental illness and with my finances but I hope that changes. But more than anything I hope to continue my activism. I would love to combine my art and activism in the near future.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Since pre school I had experienced bullying. One of my first memories being the kids in my pre school cutting part of my lip off with scissors. But that’s only the beginning of my experiences with bullying. My father was abusive in many different ways, my earliest memories of him were the beatings. If I ran too fast I was hit, laughed to loud I was hit, even typical behaviors of a baby/toddler led him to struck me even with my mothers attempts to stop him. Although he has not been diagnosed with anything to my knowledge I believe he is a malignant narcissist. After a nasty divorce between my mom and dad he always wanted to do what he could to torture my mother, even if that meant ruining my life and my childhood. He drove by our home multiple times a day, showed up to my school, and spread rumors of my mom abusing me and my sister. The police never helped us, they said there was nothing they could do to stop him.
Starting in elementary school he would go to the parents of the friends I did somehow manage to make, and tell them I was a slut and a drug addict and that they should keep their kids away from me. All of this was just to make my mother look bad. I was only 8 when he started doing this. I developed CPTSD and abandonment issues as well as anxiety Borderline disorder and major depressive disorder. Self harm and suicide attempts started at 14.
As I got older and tried to grow into my self yet once again found my self not fitting in, but this time with my family. I grew interest in punk rock music at age 13 and fell in love with body modifications. I even pierced my own nose at 14 which I find silly now. As my style changed I could feel the resentment from my mother. Just by Looking at me she would cry asking what I have done to myself. But I was happy, I felt beautiful. I felt like I was finally finding myself. And do this day I love myself and all the changes I have made.
Before my since of fashion began to shift I already struggled with feeling less loved than my sister. At around ten years old my dad would punish me for speaking up for myself/ disagreeing with him by taking my little sister to get toys and gifts while flaunting them in front of me. Even sometimes taking us out to dinner to only feed my little sister in front of me as punishment while I sat hungry. No matter how much I plead to my mother and the courts and the police about his abuse I was forced to spend the weekends with him. At age 16 my father had an episode where he became engulfed in rage shortly after arriving to his house for our weekend visitation. Me and my sister ran into the bedroom, locking the door behind us as we screamed and cried while he attempted to break down the door. We managed to escape through the window, running into the street begging for someone to call the police to help us since he had taken our phones. A kind woman stopped her car and comforted us and called the police before our father followed us out side and ran towards her car screaming.
Once the police arrived I was arrested, by order of my father, who had claimed I had attacked him. Witnesses saw me being handcuffed and stopped their vehicles to explain to the cops what the saw my father do. They were told to leave, to this day I don’t know if he had a connection to the Orlando police department but I believe so. He tried pressing charges on me, his 16 year old daughter, for crimes I did not commit. There was not enough evidence thankfully. I was still forced to see him on weekends until I finally turned 18 and was able to cut all contact with him.
My sister turned into the perfect image of what my mom wanted in a daughter. She was the normal one, the cheerleader, the popular girl. My mother did not stop crying at the sight of me until my 20s.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in all forms of art but especially painting, drawing and pottery. I have had my own business selling hand made clothes, art and jewelry since 2020. As I’ve mentioned I am also a graphic designer which I enjoy but am still praying for more exposure and clients. I’m most proud of my strength and resilience. I am proud of all my work. I would say my painting styles and pottery sets me a part from others as I like to combine horror and beauty with biblical symbolism.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
There are many things that make me happy.
I love animals and have done fostering and rescues. I have two dogs and two cats that I consider my children.
I love my friends who most of whom I’ve known for many years, they have been there for me through so many challenges.
I love nature, I love the north where the mountains are. I love the crisp air and changing leaves. And I especially love water. Rivers, lakes, streams, sprigs you name it. I love the sunshine when it hits my skin. I love the feeling of dirt and grass under my feet. I love to garden and nurture things and help them grow. I love to help others. I’d say helping others is one of my biggest sources of joy.
Pricing:
- Hourly commission for graphic design 100$
- Clothing ranges from 10-60 $ in my store
Contact Info:
- Website: Alyxunchained on etsy
- Instagram: @sentient.trash
Image Credits:
Morgan Presley showing off the leather studded top I made
Alyx Warren
