Alex was born in Abepura town, Jayapura, the capital city of Papua. The last born of six children the family originated from Yoka Village, Lake Sentani, the home of traditional bark paintings and tapa cloth.
Despite his inherent artistic talent, his parents pushed Alex to study business and after completing grade six at the local catholic community school, he was to attend the muslim Economic High School at Abepura and then furthered his study at the Economic National School in Jayapura.
It was 1988 when he crossed the border to Vanimo, Papua New Guinea as a refugee moving to Madang in 1989. He eventually came to Port Moresby to stay with his cousin brother at Fort Banner on the UPNG Campus.
Alex wanted to continue his studies in PNG but struggled with the language barrier. This is when he made the decision to follow his natural talent and become an artist, graduating in 1994 with a Diploma in Fine Art. During his student years his work was recognized in several awards; Coopers & Lybrand Award in Painting (1992) and he won first prize and Certificate of Best Artwork (1995).
From this point on he has committed to life as a full time artist and creates through a range of mediums and techniques.
‘This is a very formative period in my life and has had a powerful influence in my career as an artist. My involvement in the field of art is a journey, full of twists and turns without end point and it is a remarkable journey of how one’s life can be caught ,focused, redirected through art’.
– Alexander Mebri, Port Moresby, September 2010