Faythe Levine is a documentary filmmaker, illustrator, photographer and curator whose work is, as she writes, “in service to creating a world I want to live in.” As a teenager in the Seattle area in the early 1990s, she was heavily influenced by the local Riot Grrrl and activist scenes. Her research-based films and photos document groups committed to DIY independence and a handmade aesthetic. Her ongoing photo series Time Outside of Time, presented for the first time in Alien She, follows intentionally created, off-the-grid communities across the United States. Levine’s film and publication Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design tracked the burgeoning American independent craft movement and its many makers. The project emerged out of Levine’s heavy involvement with this community, as a founder of the Midwest fair Art vs. Craft and as a curator and owner of multiple galleries and boutiques supporting this kind of work. Her latest documentary and book Sign Painters explores the trade of traditional hand-lettering. The authors provide snapshots into the life and work of sign painters across the nation and the flux this industry has undergone in competition with commercial sign production. Levine lives in Milwaukee.