Interdisciplinary artist, Austin Alexander, is an award-winning poet laureate of Maui, best known for representing the kingdom of Hawaii at the 2010 Individual World Poetry Slam. 

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Presently, he resides in Los Angeles. Besides working as a full time mental health practitioner, Austin is also employed as a screenwriter & producer in partnership with best-selling poet/filmmaker, Saul Williams, and screenwriter/producer Gary Goldman - Minority Report, Total Recall, Big Trouble in Little China, Basic Instinct, etc.

 

As a recording and performance artist, he is currently producing a scored work of poetry with composer, Pedro Osuna, (No Time to Die, Argentina 1985, etc.) and world-renowned Hans Zimmer solo cellist, SUVVI.   

 

As a rapper, Austin has shared the stage with hip-hop artists such as Grouch, Eligh, Scarub, and Luckyiam (of Living Legends), Zion I, Abstract Rude, Myka 9, Aceyalone, Haiku d'Etet, Jennifer Johns, Angelo Moore (of Fishbone) and many more.

 

As an educator, he has lectured at the University of Hawaii and taught classes on poetry & creative writing at Montessori, Roots Private School, and King Kekaulike High School on the island of Maui. 

 

As a charity event host & director, Austin cofounded Poetik LA, a Los Angeles-based production company dedicated to supporting non-profits and providing poetic platforms for the community. In 2022, he also hosted & produced SLAM RIGHT! at Street Art Alive in The Lume - featuring 200 of the world's top street artists and some of LA's best slam poets. All proceeds were donated to Initiate Justice in support of prison reform & abolition.     

 

As an inspirational speaker and mental health practitioner, Austin is an RADT-certified creative writing & expressive therapy facilitator currently pursuing his CADC-1. He was trained by acclaimed actress/expressive therapy specialist, Diane Sherry Case (MA, MFA), who was mentored by Julia Cameron—author of The Artist's Way, and endorsed by writing therapy pioneer, Dr. James W. Pennebaker—professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Diane is best known for her iconic role in Superman and the authorship of Write for Recovery. 

 

Austin founded the institutional outreach program ‘Hope & Mic’—currently implemented at NoHo Recovery, Soul 2 Soul Recovery, and Alter The Course Retreats. Hope & Mic combines creative writing & expressive therapy with performance platforms to promote self-discovery, wellness, and recovery. Recently, Austin, along with his initiative partnered with the prison outreach program Barz Behind Bars—in association with multiple Pulitzer Prize winners, NAACP award-winners and hip-hop artists such as Common and Lupe Fiasco. 

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As a sculptor, Austin studied the art of glass blowing in Venice, Italy. With over twenty years of experience, he is a master of the craft. His glass shop is currently located in downtown, Los Angeles, and his work has been displayed and sold in some of the most prestigious galleries in the world.

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As a fabricator and inventor, Austin developed and patented a revolutionary form of preservation packaging for the cigar industry, which is currently garnering interest from some of the world's most preeminent brands.  

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While not a major focus, Austin also occasionally works as a model and actor—most recently as a fitness model for, Higher Frequency, a subject model for star athlete and photographer, Diana Redman, and as an actor in a supporting role in the play, Red Room, by Lupe Montiel, performed at the Frida Kahlo Theater.

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Ultimately, Austin serves to entertain, inspire, and positively transform the world around him by challenging his audience to find strength in vulnerability and connect reward with self-awareness.

 

"I found life with selfish innocence; I’ll leave it with selfless conviction”. ~Austin Alexander