40 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM “I was totally spoiled right out of the gate,” Alexandra recognizes of those early years. For her thesis, she joined a team in conserving a 14th-century Bernardo Daddi crucifix at the Bardini Museum. During summers in the U.S., Alexandra worked for master conservator James Pennuto, who had practiced in San Mateo since the 1960s. “I always said, ‘I’m not going to open my own doors until your doors are closed,’” Alexandra recalls. “We were really a family there.” Though Alexandra has handson experience with different mediums, she gravitated to one in particular early on. “I just loved the way that paint behaved. I understood the construction of it,” she says. “This is going to sound funny, but it talked to me differently than the other things did. So I could understand what was wrong with it and how to fix it.” Working alongside professionals like ACT’s talented paper conservators Angela Sinicropi and Clair Emma Smith strengthened Alexandra’s appreciation for other materials. “Paper is the least forgiving medium to work with, so it’s terrifying sometimes, but we have a healthy fear of it,” PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF: ACT ART CONSERVATION Alexandra says. Alexandra’s interdisciplinary power team also includes a sculpture conservator, a mount maker, an historian-archivist and other gifted specialists. They’re an impassioned group of like-minded (or like-obsessive) professionals. “We think about these things at three o’clock in the morning and text each other,” chuckles Alexandra. What does she wish more people knew about conservation? “I think we’re often called once something’s happened,” she muses. “All conservators in the last decade or more have unfortunately become wildfire responders for major collections.” It doesn’t need to stay that way. Alexandra also documents pieces prior to damage for insurance purposes and offers guidance (or “preventive medicine,” as she refers to it). Litigation comes with the territory. “We’re called as expert witnesses a lot,” she notes. There’s another misconception Alexandra wants to clear {punchline}
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