Alexandra Broches  

Alexandra Broches is a fine art photographer. She lives and maintains her studio in Wakefield, Rhode Island and has been a member of Hera Gallery since 1975. In addition to exhibiting at Hera, she has exhibited her work in New England and nationally. Most recently her work was shown in the three-person show Site Specific at the Chazan Gallery in Providence, 19@25 and the Newport Annual Juried Member's Exhibitions at the Newport Art Museum as well as a one-person exhibition at Hera in April 2013.

She has curated several exhibitions including, Hera’s 40th Anniversary Exhibition, Memory, Identity and Place, Sites of Memory and Honor, and Hera Gallery: The First Thirty Years.

Broches has an MFA in Visual Art from Vermont College, an MA in Art History from Hunter College and a BA from Bennington College. She was a resident fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in 2008 and 2005. She has taught at Rhode Island College in Providence, RI, Cazenovia College, Cazenovia, NY, and the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, RI. Her work can be seen at www.alexandrabroches.com  and www.local-artists.org.

Artist Statement

Letters and Pictures from a Box

My father rarely spoke about the loss of his family in World War II. I pore over the letters and pictures my mother kept from that time, gathered and left for us to find. The story begins with my parent’s marriage and their departure in 1939 from the Netherlands to New York. My father completed his doctorate in law and had been accepted to Fordham University to continue his law studies. My mother studied at the Royal Academy of Art and converted to Judaism when they married.

I pore over the letters and pictures seeking to understand the events that have shaped my life and the family narrative. At times it is too difficult and I have to put them aside. Gradually, from the initially undecipherable script, I begin to feel I know those who are writing; though some I have never met, they are no longer strangers. I delight in the discoveries I make that connect and confirm the stories I have heard. I remember, mourn and create new memories as I honor my family.