Alisa Alferova is a Bushwick-based artist and graphic designer dedicated to exploring the world through the eyes of social media analysis. Her new show, “Unfollow,” discusses the thoughts and emotional responses stemming from her own personal journey of cutting social media from her life.
Originally from Russia and partially raised in New York City, Alferova, considers her time in New York City her biggest influence. She has studied both in Moscow and New York City having worked with brands such as Coca-Cola, Nestle, Lexus, MasterCard, and others. After gaining her MFA in Graphic Communications from the Pratt Institute she decided to settle in Bushwick, where she currently works as a graphic designer and artist.
Recently, Alferova has been exploring the concept of “logging off” with her upcoming show, “Unfollow,” inspired by her relationship with social media and how much it has consumed her life. In the show she will share pieces that confront the idea that social media has a huge influence on a millennial’s mindset, social interactions, relationships, and the choices they make every day.
Alferova is interested in the stress caused by constantly being connected with one another: “I think that as a millenial and part of this self-aware generation, I’m trying to understand and conceptualize it all. This created a vortex of anxiety that completely consumed me.”
In preparation for “Unfollow,” Alferova actually decided to cut back on social media herself. She started by turning off notifications, and limiting her use of social apps like Facebook and Twitter, where she followed news and commentary.
Taking some time to see how this experiment would affect her, Alferova quickly saw that her life had improved in a significant way, which led her to deleting the apps all together. The artist confessed it was hard to let go of the social apps, as many aspects in life constantly drag you back into using them. Every month it got easier and easier.
Though freedom from social media is a new revelation for Alferova, this isn’t the first time she has explored the idea of surviving the digital age. Her last show, “Reflection,” in 2017, explored self-identity and the influence the digital world has on a person’s perception of reality. To relay this message she incorporated digital art compositions and some interactive works.
“It’s been an absolutely healing experience that helped me understand how important choosing what you let into yourself is,” she said. “I’m hoping that my show can illustrate that our consumption of social media has a direct influence on our way of thinking and overall well-being.”
“Unfollow” will take place on Feb. 27 from 6 p.m to 9 p.m at One Art Space in Tribeca.
Cover photo courtesy of Alisa Alferova.