We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alexis Walker. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alexis below.

Alexis, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I learned how to paint by sitting with myself in emotion- this was in 2019. Painting seem to make time go by and felt like a form of escapism that also released the emotions I’d felt so profoundly. I was at a time when I’d finally started to regard myself as beautiful, so I’d often times use myself as a character in my paintings to convey a certain message or express a different emotion I’d explored. I would oftentimes just sit in my bedroom in my father’s house and paint my feelings away to translate them to myself when I found myself overpouring with one emotion, positive or negative. Then as time progressed my paintings started to look more and more like what I’d see in my head and I found myself in somewhat of a deeper subconscious meditative state when I created- freeing myself without knowing and expressing myself in ways maybe the world would understand from my lens. I became somewhat addicted to that form of healing and fell in love with painting. It brought me joy, even on days when I felt like God forgot to wake up the sun. I think the skills that are most essential is the surrender to how you think the painting should come out and just laying your heart on the canvas, it’ll convey. Also consistency, I painted a lot to develop into the painter I am now and I’m still learning and developing- doing something repetitively creates muscle memory. Knowing what I know now what I could’ve done to speed up the process was honestly not be so critical of myself when I started to get better at it, I was still a baby painter at the time. I don’t think there’s any obstacle that stood in my way of learning more, but myself. I can be very critical of my works but in the same breath fall in love with what I express and how it lands on others.

Yoga and Poetry are also two loves of mine as well.

I learned poetry at rock bottom when I was in the 4th grade- that’s when depression greeted me and it became hard to express. I found my voice that way, I found myself when it grew dark. I found my connection with the divine.
My relationship with poetry was such an organic connection, I wouldn’t speed up a thing. My relationship with poetry is measured by how light my heart feels when I can successfully translate my emotions to myself in the form of verbal expression and similar to painting- heal and inspire as I go.

I could go on about my love for Yoga but ill dedicate this facet to the arts I’m engaged in,.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Alexis Walker aka Niyonu aka Empress Tree, I am 22 years old and from Columbus Ohio now residing in Atlanta, Georgia. I am a self-taught painter, and a two-time author, check out my works: “Buttafly”, and “Hyper-sensitive” by Alexis Walker! I’m a performing poet, and I create my own healing jewelry with my brand “Beloved” geared toward using crystals and intention to heal and adorn, I’m a Yoga instructor, gifting one on one sessions and a large class every Saturday at the Zen bar located in Atlanta GA. I’ve been a painter for about 3 years now, it’s a newly found love of mine to convey the poetry of the mind onto canvas. Liberation of the mind and soul using the body as a catalyst is a deep passion for me. I model from time to time also. I feel what sets me apart from others in regards to everything that I do is my Ase, the levels of heart and passion that are both physically and spiritually felt by the receiving end that I intensely attempt to gift. I take my time to emphasize healing ideologies from my own experiences. What sets me apart is that Yoga saved me, Poetry saved me, Painting saved me, and Creating saved me- I’m indebted to my talents and God that blessed me with them to heal myself and those around me. I’m especially proud of my first book: Buttafly, I released it when I was 19, and to know I was grappling with at the time and still produced it, ill always be proud of that version of me. The biggest thing I want to be known about myself is that I’m a heart-forward person and love rules all. Love for the art, love for the people, love for myself, love for liberation, and spiritual development. Love seeps from everything I create.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist/creative, is that to some extent you never surpress your emotions, so you’re never incarcerated by the mind as a result of backed-up feelings that never found their way out, shadow work has a large hand in our lives whether we are cognizant of it or not. . Every thought, feeling, heartwrentching reality, every moment that felt like nirvana in some ways, when you fall in love- it all impacts the art; has a presence in the art. He (art) of the artist has been swayed to a certain mind frame due to a certain emotion inhabiting their body and upon creating, release greets us. I would also say the most rewarding aspect of being a creative/artist is healing. The healing through creation, via inspiration, and those who may not have the words or never saw something they felt/experienced depicted in a way they are also in alignment with,

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The particular goal that is driving my creative journey is liberation. Freeing myself from the boundaries of my mind by furthmore expressing what inhabits them and even going on to share and help guide others’ journey through an example as I translate me to me in this experience, this life that I live. And also show/introduce myself as I gain a grapple on who I am as I grow. The gifts God has blessed me with I feel are spiritual tools that help me navigate and if I touch the soul of another, inspire another, felt by another- I’d had the blessing of fulfilling a facet of my purpose

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @empressttree
• Facebook: Alexis Walker
• Twitter: @_littlelexii