Miami artist Alex Lanier builds entire worlds out of pen, ink, and imagination. Lately, those worlds revolve around one small character with a cardboard-box head. His series Box Boy Junior has quickly become a local favorite. The series is a whimsical, emotionally charged universe built on a father’s love for his son.
We caught up with the artist at the Red Dot and Spectrum art fair in Wynwood.
“My artwork is based on my son,” Lanier explains. “Every piece has a little boy in it named Box Boy Junior. You’ll see him traveling through his imagination. My art illustrates my son exploring his imagination.”
Lanier grew up between Miami and FIU’s architecture program, and that early training shapes everything he makes. “My background is in architecture,” he says. “Amusement park design, illustrations, everything. That’s where I picked up my style. Pen and ink, lots of detail, measurements, structure.”
If you look closely at his pieces, you’ll see that foundation everywhere: tight line work, precision, an almost architectural commitment to order until imagination blows the roof off like Wlly Wonka on a sugar high. “Black-and-white ink is the base of my work,” he says. “Once I build the structure, then I can branch off into color, animation, whatever. But it all starts with the ink.”
Alex Lanier & Imagination
At the heart of his practice is a philosophy he believes everyone needs to hear. “Everybody is born with an imagination,” he says. “It fades when responsibilities pile up. But if you keep your imagination, you’ll be happier. You’ll solve problems. You’ll live a freer life.”
Lanier’s own life reflects that freedom. “I love creating art and just being me,” he says. “No nine-to-five. Just creating. Just living life.”
His advice for emerging artists is simple but carries weight: “Be yourself. Nobody else can create that. If you tell your own story, you’ll always be original.”
Box Boy Junior may be a child wandering through dreamscapes, but in Lanier’s hands, he’s also a guide that reminds Miami that imagination is a muscle worth keeping alive.
Give him a follow and maybe a holla saying you saw his shit on The Jitney.
View this post on Instagram
