Alexander lives on the lively Long Street in the centre of Cape Town. From her balcony she can observe the aesthetic view of the architecture as well as the activities around the book shops, antique shops and sex shops. Both the sex workers and the museums of Germany, among other things, have contributed to Alexander's sculpture.
Her sources therefore come from a general social environment and her own experiences within it. She makes a close observational study of the behaviour of humans and animals as well as urban and non-urban environments. She also examines the behaviour in controlled surroundings such as zoos. She then compares these behaviours. She also looks at the way hierarchical and unranked individuals conduct themselves and physically express themselves.
Alexander's works of sculpture and photomontage are not social criticism or an attempt to promote a particular attitude. They are intended to be observational studies of characters in a particular time and place, and from a particular social context. She uses what is familiar and part of her own experience. She feels it is important to construct valuable socially conscious art. One should have the ability to reflect essential and familiar aspects. Alexander has never called herself a political artist because she sees protest art as too specific. At an early stage in her career she commented: "What is the point of doing burning tyres? Isn't that just the artist saying 'I am aware of this'? Why are we not rather looking at the whole environment?"
Some of Alexander's work has been read as protest art because it was made during that time. Her work was very much influenced by the cutting reality of the disrupted society and therefore it seems fall under socio-political art. For her, her work has no specific story, besides the one the viewer creates. Her aim is to try and make people question, react to and recognize their emotions regarding the work.
The subject of her Master of Arts degree is Aspects of Violence and Disquietude in Twentieth Century Three-Dimensional Human Figuration. In it she comments on the works of sculptors such as Kienholz, Hanson and Segal, all of whom had some influence on her own work. Edward Kienholz was an American artist who produced environments in which only literal movement is lacking. His work is very social-realist in style and often makes comments about the treatment of individuals in society. Duane Hanson is also an American artist. He is a Super-Realist sculptor whose figures are life-size. Because his works are so absolutely true to reality, they have an extraordinary presence. In his sculptures Hanson often expresses criticism of the consumerist American culture. George Segal's figures are cast from the human body in plaster. He keeps the figure rough and white and does not try to give it credibility as Hanson does. He then puts them into actual environments which he creates with props bought from junkyards. His white figures express feelings of alienation.
When studying Alexander's works, the influence of the above artists is very apparent. Violence, aggression, victimization and alienation are the primary subject matter in her work. She is very concerned with the actual isolation of the human being and portrays this reality in a way as to draw a wide audience. Like the above artists, she wants to evoke a personal response in her audience. Commenting on her kind of subject matter, Alexander says that violence imposes itself easily. "The public is drawn to violence. It intensifies reality, disrupts mundane daily existence and perhaps creates a sense of worth. People are fascinated by car accidents, for instance."
Alexander's works were greatly influenced by the violence of the 1980s and shows the brutality of the oppressive Apartheid regime. But, at the same time, she is a genuine artist concerned with subtler and more philosophical issues of identity in our own time.