Meet Alexa & Edreys Wajed | Artists, Entrepreneurs, Eat Off Art Co-Founders
We had the good fortune of connecting with Alexa & Edreys Wajed and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Alexa & Edreys, what do you attribute your success to?
The most important factor behind the success of Alexa and Edreys Wajed and their brand is to Eat Off Art! They are changing the narrative from a starving artist to a thriving artist, while disturbing the “approved standard” of what and who the arts are for.
As Alexa & Edreys continue to move forward in their individual and collective arts practices as full time thriving artists they are inadvertantly inspiring others to explore how creativity can benefit their own lives. The couple is urging people to understand how important the arts are to mental health. We are being transparent with our journey so others can feel comfortable simply being who they are.
Another important factor, among many, behind the success of our business is our partnership. A Partnership that began over 30 years ago. It was initiated as a high school friendship then moved to a post graduate courtship, a long distance love and continues on as a lifelong honeymoon. We have learned how to support each other’s endeavors, lift each other up during failures and cheer each other on in every success.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Firstly, Eat Off Art is a boutique creative design agency, specializing in creative design and branding, showcasing original artwork, jewelry design, culinary arts and transformative arts engagement.
Alexa is a visual artist, culinary chef, jewelry designer and project manager (freelance and for the business). Her art practice involves leather jewelry design, 2D abstract artwork and collage, incorporating the use of fluid lyrical lines with a meditative process and aesthetic. As a chef she also teaches people through short-video or 60-90 min cooking presentations and demonstrations, lessening the learning curve and apprehension for people who don’t consider themselves chefs, yet are seeking healthy ways to bring vegetables into their diet successfully.
Edreys is a curator, visual artist, muralist, sculptor, jewelry designer, music producer and poet. His paintings represent the documentation of performance, poetry and sound, as a means of visually capturing the feeling of music. He has developed a system of musical notation incorporating layers of color, text and line to be read as a street art version of chart or sheet music. In brief, the drawing of sound. Each marking denotes a specific musical instrument or sound and its respective movement. Through his experience as a music producer, writer and performer informs my art practice as a tool for transposing sound onto canvas. Edreys is finishing his MFA program at the University of Buffalo where he is a Schomburg Fellow. His Spring thesis show will be held at the Burchfield Penney Arts Center
https://burchfieldpenney.org/exhibitions/exhibition:edreys-wajed-the-bridge/
Eat Off Art is an incarnation of previous business ventures from as early as 1999, originating first as a fine art and stationery, later evolving into a brick and mortar boutique with a 400 square foot art gallery circa 2004-2009. We’ve gone through several iterations over the years, always centered around entrepreneurship and arts advocacy and today as Eat Off Art we are equipped with the skills, experience and expertise to stand as a healthy growing business.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I don’t know if this was meant for Buffalo, NY, however Buffalo is a very unique city outside of the extreme segregation displayed in many ways. We have amazing food, architecture and ART!
We would have to take them to all of the murals that Edreys has worked on:
The Freedom Wall – https://www.albrightknox.org/community/ak-public-art/freedom-wall
Love Black – https://www.albrightknox.org/community/ak-public-art/love-black
Grover Washington, Jr – https://www.wbfo.org/arts-culture/2020-10-13/grover-washington-jr-mural-brings-a-little-mister-magic-to-buffalos-east-side
Spider Martin – https://nfmurals.org/project/2019-edreys-wajed-john-spider-martin/
Protector of Dreams – https://edreys.com/mural-work/bailey-fights-blight-mural/
Then we would take them to some local art gatherings and experience wonderful food – that does not come a chain restuarant!
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We shout out our Village! Our ancestors, elders, family, friends, partners and collaborators. We do not do this work alone, we are collective made.
Website: www.EatOffArt.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/eatoffart
Twitter: www.twitter.com/@eatoffart
Facebook: www.facebook.com/eatoffart
Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/eatoffart
Other: Edreys’ personal website – www.Edreys.com (IG: @edreys) Alexa’s Website – www.Alexajoan.com (IG: @edreys) Their son – Emeka’s website – www.madebymek.com (IG: @madebymek_)
Image Credits
4 of the 7 photos: https://mustafahussainofficial.com All others are by the artists.
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