Today we’d like to introduce you to Alecia Hawkins.
Hi Alecia, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My path as an artist has never been particularly linear. I’ve always been drawn to creating, but over time I began to realize that my creativity could exist across many different mediums and environments.
My name is Alecia Hawkins, though I go by STORM. I’m an interdisciplinary artist from Chicago, creating immersive visual experiences through painting, installation, and design. My practice blends fine art with hands-on creative production, creating aesthetic experiences that are thoughtfully crafted to engage, inspire, and connect with others.
I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember and have always found myself creating in some form. When I went to college, I initially pursued Computer Science, but I immediately knew I also wanted to major in Art. I added Studio Art as my second major without hesitation, even though my parents wanted me to pursue a more traditional career path through my education.
College was where I was first introduced to the idea of being “interdisciplinary.” I had never heard that language before, but the concept immediately resonated with me. I took courses across many different mediums and disciplines of art, I especially fell in love with sculpture because it allowed me to create without feeling confined to one medium or way of working. Interestingly, I never took a painting class in college, which is especially ironic considering painting is now my primary medium.
After graduating, I moved to Los Angeles the very next day and started the clothing line I had always dreamed of creating, SLIGHTSTORM. I wanted to completely align myself with the world I was building, so I created the persona STORM and began building an entire universe around it. I branded my clothing, my social media, my image, and ultimately myself.
What started as a clothing brand unexpectedly became my introduction to personal branding, community-building, aesthetics, and storytelling. I became an influencer almost by accident as my audience grew, and eventually I realized that SLIGHTSTORM had taught me much more than fashion. It taught me how to build a world around an idea, create cohesive collections, connect with people through creativity, and curate an aesthetic that people could recognize and feel connected to.
That realization gave me the freedom to explore what I wanted to create next.
I had never painted before. I had never even held a paintbrush until I began working on my first collection. I didn’t know if I could call myself a painter because I didn’t have formal training or experience in painting. I didn’t even know how to properly prime a canvas until my second collection. I felt somewhat like an imposter labeling myself as a painter.
But if there was one thing I knew how to do, it was build a brand.
So, as I began creating my first collection, I immediately began branding my art career. I named the world I was building VITALVZN because I believed my vision was vital, even if I didn’t know what I was doing yet.
While developing my first collection, I would almost pretend that my studio was my own solo exhibition. I began introducing pieces to my audience, and a lot of people resonated with my work. But internally, I was still torn between whether it was appropriate to call myself a painter.
Then, to my surprise, a gallery reached out and invited me to exhibit my work in New York.
It felt so liberating seeing my work on the gallery walls, everyone in the room eager to tell me that they loved my work. Seeing people connect with something I had created, and experiencing that response from an entire room, felt completely different. God reminded me that this was exactly where I belonged.
This is exactly where I am supposed to be.
Since then, I’ve participated in more exhibitions, collaborated with artists across many disciplines, and created many connections through my passion for art.
Through my love of creating meaningful connections through art, I was inspired to create SHAREDVZNS, an artist collective for creatives of all disciplines and centered completely around unconventional creative collaborations. The goal is to break the boundaries of the art world and explore what becomes possible when different creative perspectives come together.
I want to redefine how we experience and appreciate art. My journey has taught me that creativity doesn’t have to fit neatly into one category, and neither does an artist. I believe there is value in every vision, every perspective, and every way of creating—and I want my work and the creative communities I build to create more space for all of it.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth or perfectly predictable road. One of the biggest challenges has been learning to trust God’s plan for me, even when I couldn’t see it immediately. Looking back, I can see the different versions of myself I’ve gone through over the years. They were all contributing to and curating the person and the purpose I’m walking into today.
At the time, I didn’t always understand why I was experiencing certain things or why I was being led in certain directions. I thought I was supposed to be a fashion designer when, years later, I would find myself becoming the interdisciplinary artist I am today. But I’ve learned that none of those experiences were wasted. Every experience along the way gave me something that I would eventually need.
Moving to Los Angeles immediately after college was one of those moments. I didn’t have everything figured out, but I trusted my vision enough to take the leap and build something for myself. I had to do the same thing when I began painting. Before I had gallery invitations, before I had the reactions from an audience, and before I had any confirmation that I was on the right path, I had to trust the vision I had been given.
I think that’s one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned: sometimes you have to believe in something before you have evidence that it will work. Following God even when I couldn’t see the entire path ahead, and trusting that eventually everything would work together for good, has allowed me to keep moving forward.
Even now, I try not to become too attached to the idea that I know exactly where my career is going. Painting may be my purpose, or painting may be leading me toward something I haven’t discovered yet. Either way, I’ll use what I’ve learned to guide whatever comes next.
So while the road hasn’t always been clear, I’m grateful that it wasn’t. If I had known exactly where I was going years ago, I may not have become the person I am today.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My work is rooted in Pop Art and combines digital art with traditional painting to create immersive visual experiences. I’m especially drawn to cultural and iconic imagery, using recognizable subjects as a way to explore beauty, identity, style, and cultural influence.
As an interdisciplinary artist, I’m not interested in being confined to one medium or one way of creating. My background has shaped the way I approach my work, allowing me to move freely between different forms of creative expression. I think about the artwork itself, but I also think about the world it creates and how someone will experience it.
One of the things I pride myself on most is my ability to curate aesthetics. I love creating work that feels intentional beyond the individual piece, where the visual experience has its own identity and atmosphere. For me, art can become more than something you look at, it can become something you feel connected to.
I’m most proud of how much I’ve grown into my identity as an artist. I didn’t come into painting through a traditional path, and I think that has allowed me to approach it from my own perspective. I’ve given myself the freedom to experiment and follow my ideas without feeling the need to fit into a specific definition of what an artist should be.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
From what I’ve learned, I really appreciate the creative energy and the way Baltimore seems to make space for different forms of artistic expression. As an interdisciplinary artist, I’m naturally drawn to places that embrace creativity beyond traditional definitions of art. Since I haven’t actually spent much time in Maryland yet, I don’t feel like I can fairly speak to what I like least about the city.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/_stormle
