Alicia Forestall-Boehm

In today's world of COVID-19, experiencing life virtually is our new normal. From classes to work to cultural events we are living our lives while sheltering in place. Temporary closings, limited openings and social distancing, have forced artists, art galleries, art museums, and art organizations to think outside the box to find new ways to present art exhibitions. With that in mind, I decided to create an online virtual art gallery that can host an exhibition that is engagin g and informative. One that is visually appealing as well as interactive.  A virtual art exhibition th at can be used by a single artist to present a solo show or a gallery or art group to pr esent a group or member show. I am pleased to present the virtual art exhibition #FusedAtHome , a collection of artworks by the artist members of FUSEDChicago. I designed and produced this interactive art exhibition. It uses an appealing art gallery background. The viewer can travel between the many gallery rooms to vi...

Not unlike many artists, I have had some challenges in the studio during this pandemic. While immersing myself in the creative process of art-making is calming and rejuvenating, it can be a difficult place to get to amidst all of the stress and anxiety of today's world. I have been taking online workshops and reading, reading, reading! My morning routine includes reading everything, well almost everything, in my many inboxes. This includes the New York Times and Washington Post, our local Chicago Tribune, and of course, many online art news subscriptions. A recent New York Times article " Faith Ringgold Will Keep Fighting Back " is worth recommending. In it, artist, author, and activist Faith Ringgold talks about how the pandemic, and the death of her husband, have blocked her creatively but the recent protests, spurred on by the murder of George Floyd, have inspired her to return to her studio. Sometimes we need to wait for inspiration, keeping our eyes and ears op...

Artist Talk, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois Last week I spoke to a group of art students at Western Illinois University.  I told them about my work, about myself and about the paths that I had taken to get to that moment.  When asked to offer up any words of advice that I might have for emerging artists, I told them to "simply get yourself out there...that you never know who would see your work and what opportunity that may bring".  I shared my story of how doing just that has led me to where I am now and to an art commission that currently covers every open surface in my art studio. In June of 2015 I received an email from Amy DeLap and Andrew Jendrzejewski of Art Space Vincennes . They were offering me a solo show at their gallery.  Now, to be perfectly honest, I had to Google Vincennes, not knowing where, exactly, it was located. Well, it turns out that Vincennes, is located in Indiana, our next door neighbor!  Founded in 1732 and home...

As many of you know, I am a big fan of right angles.   Windows no. 34 My Windows Series consisted of small squares carved into square panels and my Tesserae paintings were created with many square-shaped encaustic tiles.  Tesserae II Moving Day I designed custom wood panel frames to house my mini encaustic and fiber cubes. detail, Spaces We Inhabit My mixed media cubes grew and were hung in columns from the ceiling. Perhaps my cube obsession culminated into the installation Infinite Possibilities .  Each one of these unique cubes is installed in a grid formation on the wall, hopefully by someone OTHER than me! Infinite Possibilities  In fact, you can find the square shape in many of my vessels and woven encaustic and fiber 3-dimensional works! Vessel 6 So when the opportunity arose to participate in an art exhibition that was titled The Dot Show I jumped at it! Dots!   They are not i...

I am so very happy to announce that I have a number of exciting opportunities to show my art in 2016! February 26 - March 31, 2016 4th Annual Art Competition Bridgeport Art Center Chicago, Illinois Persistence of Vision April 2- May 21, 2016 11th Annual Encaustic Invitational: Length x Width x Depth Conrad Wilde Gallery Tucson, Arizona The Power of Place May 1- June 31, 2016 The Dot Show Chicago Arts District showPODS 1822-43 S. Halsted Street Chicago, Illinois Detail, Flow October 10-November 20, 2016 Solo Space and Surface:  Sculpture and Paintings by Alicia Forestall-Boehm Western Illinois University Art Gallery Macomb, Illinois    Spaces We Inhabit, Art Space Vincennes

I was thrilled to have had the opportunity for my first solo exhibition this past December. My show Transformed Spaces consisted of two sculptural installations; Infinite Possibilities and The Spaces We Inhabit.  It considered the symmetry of the urban landscape and explored the physical and mental boundaries of the public and private spaces we inhabit.      Infinite Possibilities is a wall installation consisting of 30 unique wall cubes, each utilizing similar and familiar materials yet each recognizing its own distinctive space .   Spaces We Inhabit is an installation of a dozen, twelve foot high columns of encaustic and fiber sculptures created by altering 2-dimensional paintings.   This transformation acknowledges another kind of space; one of visual repetitiveness and change.    Transformed Spaces was installed in the Art on Armitage Gallery window December 1, 2015 and was up throughout the month. ...