STATEMENT

D'Alessandro's creative focus involves the integration of her artistic performance practice with ambitious pursuits in athleticism–specifically amateur boxing. She regards boxing as a potent topic in terms of contemporary sports and gender studies, especially since women's boxing debuted in the 2012 London Olympics. Coupling gender and athlete demographics, while dissolving traditional fields and boundaries, D'Alessandro implements a rigorous artist-turned-athlete training regimen. She has earned Novice Female Middlewight titles at tournaments including the 2012 Florida Golden Gloves, 2012 Florida USA Boxing Championships, 2012 Southwest Florida Championships, and the 2014 Women's National Golden Gloves.       

"Art is the arena in which I battle to better understand the world. 

There is no ringside. We are all in this fight."     

   - Desiree D'Alessandro   

Whether as a physical work out, a contest, a spectacle, or the opportunity for visual and cognitive mapping, D'Alessandro aims to bridge the gap between art and athleticism and eliminate the ropes that restrict the ring, shifting the scale of the encounter from the individual to the social. D'Alessandro continues to transform work into physical and intellectual encounters via interactive works revolve around kinaesthetic examinations via a variety of platforms, including site-specific, installation, digital, and performative modes of production. She aims to provoke discourse where the outcome is also affectively visceral–showcasing image, scale, movement, color, time, and space.       

D'Alessandro earned her Master of Fine Arts in New Genres and Extended Praxes from the University of California, Santa Barbara.