Alicia Tormey - Artist Statement

Themes of nature began to make their way into my paintings after witnessing the slow destruction of a meadow near my family’s home. The loss inspired me to create my own environments that would be protected from decimation and over development. Through these works I examine the connections between chaos, beauty, humanity and nature. Broken fields of color, marbled surfaces and splattered veins of paint are combined with recognizable plant forms and vistas resulting in a visual struggle that gives way to harmony. I utilize the properties of bee’s wax, oil and shellac to conjure up a visceral experience and create a contrast between the rawness of the materials and the subtle beauty of the subject matter.

When working with encaustic I use carving tools, drill bits and a blowtorch to manipulate the wax. I work with multiple layers marking each one deeply as I continue to build up the painting’s surface. It’s scraped, fused and rubbed with oil paint to create texture and luminosity. The final layers are sometimes polished to resemble a fired ceramic glaze.

Resume

Education

• 2000-07 Pratt Fine Art Center, Encaustic Painting, Seattle, WA
• 1996 Art Institute of Seattle, Graphic Design, Seattle, WA

Exhibitions

Solo

• 2009 Emotional Evolutions, Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle, WA
• 2007 Sitting Pretty, Lunar Boy Gallery, Astoria, OR
• 2007 New Encaustic Paintings, Click Design, Seattle, WA
• 2007 Fields of Vision, Starbucks Café, Sun Valley, ID
• 2006 Exposures, Tashiro Kaplan Arts Building, Seattle WA
• 2006 Ancestors & Prophets, Art House Collective, Hailey, ID

Group

• 2009 4th Annual Encaustic Invitational, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, AZ
• 2009 Small Works Show, Gilman Contemporary, Ketchum, ID
• 2009 Anniversary Exhibition, Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle, WA
• 2008 Three Person Show, Gilman Contemporary, Ketchum, ID
• 2008 Two Person Show, Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle, WA
• 2008 Juried Auction, Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN
• 2008 Three Person Show, Alexis Hotel Gallery, Seattle, WA
• 2008 Juried Auction, Addicted to Art, PONCHO Invitational, Seattle, WA
• 2008 Featured Artist, Gilman Contemporary, Ketchum, ID
• 2008 Gallery Artist Annual Exhibition, Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle, WA
• 2008 Pinned to PONCHO Invitational, Lucky Strike Lanes, Bellevue, WA
• 2008 Anniversary Exhibition, Gilman Contemporary, Ketchum, ID
• 2008 Featured Artist, Lunar Boy Gallery, Astoria, OR
• 2007 Gallery Artist Group Exhibition, Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle, WA
• 2007 Featured Artist, Lunar Boy Gallery, Astoria, OR
• 2007 Annual Invitational Exhibition, Art House Collective, Hailey, ID
  
• 2007 Juried Auction, Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle, WA
• 2007 Guest Artist, Tashiro Kaplan Arts Building, Seattle, WA
• 2006 Creative Source, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Ketchum, ID
• 2006 Featured Artist, Laura Frost Gallery, Seattle, WA
• 2006 Summer Arts Exhibition, Tashiro Kaplan Arts Building, Seattle, WA
• 2005 Guest Artist, Tashiro Kaplan Arts Building, Seattle, WA
  

Awards

• 2007 Artist’s Choice Award, Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle, WA
• 1995 Best in Show, Art Institute of Seattle, Seattle, WA
• 1996 Award of Merit, Art Institute of Seattle, Seattle, WA

Collections

• Swedish Medical Center, Permanent Collection, Seattle, WA
• Peterson Sullivan CPA, Corporate Collection, Seattle, WA

Publications

• 2008 “Embracing Encaustic,” Featured artist: page 67, Linda & William Womack, Hive Publishing