Tucson artist Lex Gjurasic doesn’t do minimalism.
In her own words, she’s never been good at it. She chooses to live loudly in almost every area of her life from her colorful home decor and outfits, to her hobby of stand-up comedy, and of course, her vibrant art pieces.
Like many artists, Gjurasic said she has always been creative. As a kid, she wanted to be a fashion designer, and would draw dress after dress in her journals. Her work has gone through many evolutions in her career, though she said repetition and bright color have remained integral to her process and art style.
Much of her recent art depicts repetitive floral motifs that bring to mind meadows of wildflowers, and childhood nostalgia. The designs also pay homage to her heritage and Slavic floral embroidery.
“I've been doing these flower mounds – as I call them – since COVID,” she said. “As a kid I was really sick with lung issues, and so for me art was my way of coping through illness. When COVID happened, it was a natural extension of that coping process through art, and that's when these flower mounds really burst forth.”
For Gjurasic, there’s a satisfaction in the repetition, saying she finds it to be soothing, almost meditative.
“If I didn't make art that had some level of repetition, I'd maybe be a little bit more obsessive-compulsive in other ways, but I feel like I get it all out through my art,” she said.
She is even formulaic in her creation process, working through a piece again and again until she gets it just right.
Lex Gjurasic, a local artist, poses for a portrait in her home in midtown Tucson, Ariz. on September 3, 2026
“Everything starts off with a drawing. I'll do a drawing repetitively, and then at some point it shifts, and there's this little hiccup or alteration and I'm like ‘breakthrough, next level,’” she said. “Then I go in with a pencil and I draw, and I go in and draw some more, really bringing in details, and then I just paint on top of that.”
Often, she finishes her pieces with iridescent ink to give them a subtle shimmer.
Gjurasic doesn’t just limit herself to paper for her floral creations though, she uses everything from house paint to mortar, styrofoam, and paper mache. She even received grants through the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona and the Arizona Commission on the Arts to create with silk.
“I do whatever I want,” she said. “I really grant myself permission to allow the materials to lead my exploration, whether that's successful or not.”
Gjurasic also believes that being an artist means participating in the community. Earlier this year, she took part in the “Beautify the Box” project, transforming an electrical box into a work of art.
“The Beautify the Box project is with the Fourth Avenue Coalition and the West University neighborhood,” she said. “We worked on a design, and then once it was cool enough out, we wrapped a utility box that's at N. 6th Ave. and E. 6th St. The community response has been wonderful, and there's a couple other utility boxes by other artists in that area, so that's been a great way to like tap into the community.”
Paintings of the Virgin Mary on paper pulp by Lex Gjurasic, September 3, 2026.
Currently, Gjurasic has a series of her floral mounds on display at the Tucson Museum of Art as part of the Arizona Biennial. The exhibition runs through Sept. 27 and celebrates contemporary artists from across the state.
“The work at TMA is the eight stages of radical happiness,” she said. “It's an installation of eight works, but each piece does have its own unique sentiment in the title. It's actually the eight stages of a manic episode, and through that installation, I'm really exploring the fine line between choosing to be happy, choosing to have contentment in a really uncertain time.”
Gjurasic used different compositions and colors to convey the emotional aspects and feelings associated with each piece. All eight artworks were created using pencil and a highly pigmented vinyl paint, and Gjurasic said each took about two weeks to make.
As an artist, her personal goal is to always expand her skills and her boundaries.
“Even if that's not perfect, I'm always like ‘you need to push it,’” Gjurasic said. “Trusting your own vision and having a good sense of what you will do as an artist is key.”
