Alex Russell combines hand-made content with digital technology to make one-off prints and commissioned art. He creates libraries of images with traditional media and writes generative code to arrange them into artworks. His code mixes models of composition and colour (from art and design) with complex systems (from science and maths), creating unique outputs with every run. Alex develops algorithms that influence each other’s behaviour, governed by systems such as cellular automata to determine the characteristics of the content. The generative process works in two stages, using the biological concepts of genotypes and phenotypes to create a plan of the print and then build it. He works in series, each with its own themes, code and image library. Overarching everything is a conceptual approach to pattern, including design patterns (from software design) and pattern language (from architecture). Alex is intrigued by how traditions of arranging content can be expressed as a grammar, taking the rich history of print-making to a unique new place.

Captivated as a teenager by screen printing, Alex spent many years as a textile designer and lecturer. Fascinated by coding, he began to explore the possibilities of generative systems around 20 years ago, later researching how digital fabric printers could print ever-changing patterns. Since 2022, he has focussed on fine art print-making and commissions, enthralled by making original work in a space bounded by art and science, the hand-made and the digital. He has shown in a wide range of venues including Lightbox New York (US), Browar B Cultural Centre/Forum Gallery (Poland), FACT Liverpool (UK), Waterside Sale (UK), Left Bank Leeds (UK), Storyhouse Chester (UK) and Fronteer Gallery Sheffield (UK). He has participated at numerous art fairs including the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair and the National Festival of Making.
Alex lives and works in Manchester, UK.