Miami-based artist Alissa Alfonso (b. 1970) has lived in Florida her entire life, grounding her practice in the state’s vibrant, ever-changing environment. Growing up in her parents’ Corvette restoration shop, she developed a deep appreciation for craftsmanship, repair, and material transformation, skills that now underpin her approach to sustainable artmaking. This early exposure to hands-on work shaped her perspective as a local Miami artist deeply rooted in place.

Alfonso’s practice centers on transforming the past, discarded textiles, found objects, cultural memory into a dialogue with the future. Through this lens, her work reflects both resistance and care: resistance to environmental degradation and overconsumption, and care for the natural world, community memory, and overlooked materials. As an artist, mother, and caregiver, she brings a multifaceted, lived perspective to her work, one shaped by the responsibilities of raising children while caregiving for aging parents. This experience within the “sandwich generation” directly informs her slow, deliberate process and deep respect for labor, healing, and resilience.

Working from her home studio in a 1937 art deco house in Hollywood, Florida, Alfonso hand-dyes salvaged textiles and assembles them into sculptural soft landscapes inspired by native flora and healing plants. These works highlight the ecological importance of weeds, fungi, and wildflowers, many of which persist in overlooked spaces and thrive despite environmental pressures. Her use of repurposed materials not only diverts waste from landfills, but also transforms what is cast off into forms that speak of growth, adaptation, and survival.

Alfonso also extends her practice beyond the studio through “Off the Canvas,” an arts program she founded for Broward County Schools. There, she encourages young people to explore creative expression through non-traditional materials while introducing them to sustainability as both a practice and a mindset.

Her work embodies the spirit of Rooted Resistance grounded in place, driven by care, and committed to environmental and social healing. Through soft sculpture and community engagement, Alfonso’s art offers a hopeful counterpoint to ecological loss, reminding us that resistance can begin at home, in the acts of mending, making, and remembering.