Education
2020 Master of Design in Industrial Design Research – Carleton University (Canada)
2017 Master of Letters in Fine Art Practice Specializing in Painting – Glasgow School of Art (UK)
2015 Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting – Ontario College of Art and Design University (Canada)
2013 Academic Exchange – Glasgow School of Art (UK)
Solo & Two-Person Exhibitions
2025 “Twisting Figment” Jadro Cultural Center, Skopje North Macedonia
2024 “A Painting for a Painting, a Tooth for a Tooth” Gravity Gallery, North Adams Massachusetts USA
2023 “pitch, slip” Robert McLaughlin Gallery – Oshawa Canada
2023 “Riddles for the Road” Brodac Gallery – Sarajevo Bosnia & Herzegovina (in Collaboration with Nour Hassan)
2021 “Tempered Mirage” Litla Gallery – Reykjavik Iceland
2018 “Subterrestrial Visitors” Narva Art Residency – Narva Estonia
Group Exhibitions
2025 “At Hand, At Present: Collage and the Practice of Making Do” Mid America College Art Association Juried Group Exhibition (Virtual Exhibition – Eastern Illinois University) – Illinois USA
2025 “Wrangle, Wrap, Wring” Art Attic Gallery – Invercargill, New Zealand
2024 “Radio Elsewheres 2.0” Manifesto Gallery – Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
2024 Visual Arts Center Clarington 42nd Annual Juried Exhibition – Clarington Canada
2023 “SU3023” Cultural Center ‘Miladinovci Brothers’ – Struga North Macedonia
2022 “Tendril” Cultural Center ‘Miladinovci Brothers’ – Struga North Macedonia
2021 Osten Biennial of Drawing Exhibition of Finalists, National Galley of North Macedonia – Skopje N. Macedonia
2021 “Tehom” SÍM (Association of Icelandic Visual Artists) Gallery – Reykjavík Iceland
2020 Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition – Edinburgh Scotland
2017 “Drifting Corridors” The Old Hairdressers – Glasgow Scotland
2017 “Somewhere Far from the Subject Itself” House for an Art Lover – Glasgow Scotland
2015 Art Olympia Exhibition Toshima City Hall – Tokyo Japan
2015 “Experiencing Perspectives” Mercedes Benz Juried Exhibition – Mississauga Canada
Residencies
2026 NY20+ Chengdu China
2024 Center of Gravity Residency (Walkaway House), North Adams Massachusetts USA
2023 Brodac Micro Residency (Brodac Gallery) Sarajevo Bosnia & Herzegovina
2023 Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa Canada
2023 Partizan Studios, Budapest Hungary
2021 Muzychi Expanded History Project, Muzychi Ukraine
2021 Nes Artist Residency, Skagaströnd Iceland
2021 SÍM (Association of Icelandic Visual Artists) Residency, Reykjavík Iceland
2019 Center for Contemporary Art, Prilep North Macedonia
2018 Narva Art Residency, Narva Estonia
Workshops & Artist Talks
2026 “Collage, Colour & Myth-Making” SGPS International School Chengdu China
2025 “Exploring Public Space: How Artist Residencies Can Help Us Imagine Future Cities” Tedx Talk at Gingko College, Chengdu China
2025 Podcast interviews – Invercargill New Zealand: “Akapapa”, and “Art is our Perception” podcasts, Broadcast by Radio Southland, Invercargill New Zealand
2025 “Projecting Myths” VR & Collage Paired Workshop Series – Te Anau, Stewart Island, Invercargill, New Zealand
2024 Vishni Timestamp VR Workshop – Tendril/Vishni Residency, Struga, North Macedonia
2023 Tendril Struga Residency Workshop Series (Struga Sound Scavenger Hunt, Exquisite Blueprint – Paper and VR Collaborative Ideation) – Cultural Center ‘Miladinovci Brothers,’ Struga N. Macedonia
2023 Spiced Academy Workshop Series (Gathering Insights from Collaborative Digital Brainstorming, Remote Co-design & Digital Brainstorming) – Berlin Germany (Remote)
2023 Artist Talk – in Conversation with Hannah Keating at ‘pitch, slip’ Exhibition – Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa Canada
2022 Multidisciplinary Drawing Ideation in Virtual Environments (Online Workshop on Inclusion in Virtual Reality Applications at Carleton University) – Ottawa Canada (Remote)
2021 Artist Talk (in Conversation with Alevtina Kakhidze) – Izolyatsia Foundation, Kyiv Ukraine
2021 Artist Talk – SÍM (Association of Icelandic Visual Artists) Residency, Reykjavik Iceland
Teaching Appointments & Guest Lectures
2024-Ongoing- Lecturer (Art & Design International Dept.) – Chengdu University College of Chinese and ASEAN Arts, Chengdu China
2023 Guest Lecture – Extreme Abstraction Fourth Year Course – OCAD University, Toronto, Canada
2021 Guest Lecture- Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (Department of Drawing), Vienna Austria
2018-2020 Teaching Assistant – Carleton University Faculty of Engineering and Design
Selected Awards and Grants
2025 Canada Council for the Arts: Arts Abroad Travel Grant (Canada)
2025 Collective Grant – Invercargill Creative Communities Scheme (New Zealand)
2022 Chalmers Professional Development Projects Grant – Ontario Arts Council (Canada)
2018-2020 Carleton University Graduate Academic Scholarship (Canada)
2019 Henry Luce Foundation Scholarship for Field School (USA/Mongolia)
2017 Art Olympia Tokyo First Round Finalist Award (Japan)
2016 Mackendrick Postgraduate Scholarship (Scotland)
2016 Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant (Canada)
2015 Art Olympia Tokyo Chu-Teh-I Jury Award (Japan)
2014 Aboveground Art Supplies Scholarship OCADU (Canada)
2013 Carol and Morton Rapp Foundation Scholarship OCADU (Canada)
Publications
2025 “Twisting Figment by Canadian artist Alex Close – an exhibition about what you thought you knew” UMNO MK, Skopje North Macedonia
2025 “Twisting Figment: Abstract Art Exhibition by Alex Close at Jadro, Skopje” Diva Misla (Savage Mind) Skopje North Macedonia
2025 “Talents Unite in South” Otago Daily Times, Invercargill New Zealand
2024 “Multidisciplinary Exhibition ‘SU3023’: What Would Struga Look Like 1000 Years in the Future?” Ohrid Press, Ohrid Macedonia
2023 “Zagonetke Za Put/Riddles for the Road” Oslobodzenje Newspaper, Sarajevo Bosnia & Herzegovina
Monographs
2025 “On Illusion” Artist Book Published by ArtsinSquare
Fieldwork & Participation in Short Courses
2023 Kuma International Summer School – Kuma International Center for Visual Arts for Post-Conflict Societies (Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina)
2021 Spatial Storytelling – International Summer Academy of Fine Arts, Salzburg Austria (Virtual)
2021 Reconfiguring Territories – Summer Research Program, Narva Estonia (Virtual)
2019 Mongolia’s Energy Transition Field School – American Center for Mongolian Studies, Mongolia
2018 Tunnug Mound Archaeological and Geographical Expedition – Russian Geographic Society, Tuva, Russia
Other Professional Experience
2025 Lead Curator of “Tales of an Imagined Home” Collaborative Exhibition between Chengdu University (China) & Ss. Cyril & Methodius University (North Macedonia)
2022-2024 Co-founder/Director of “Tendril Struga” International Artist Residency (Struga, North Macedonia)
2020-2024 UX researcher, illustrator, graphic designer (independent contractor)
2021 Artist Assistant to Dr. Emilia Telese
2019-2021 Scenic artist for film & TV
2017 Curator of “Drifting Corridors” group exhibition at The Old Hairdresser’s artist run space (Glasgow, UK)