Alicia Forestall-Boehm

I am pleased to follow up my last post with this announcement that my encaustic and fiber sculpture  "Passages" received an Award of Recognition in the 70th Annual (WVE) Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition at The Swope Art Museum. Passages Juror Carter E. Foster, the Steven and Ann Ames Curator of Drawings at the Whitney Museum of American Art, wrote this statement for the exhibition program. "Surrealism is alive and well.  Whether through startling disjunctions of scale, eerie elimination of detail, strange juxtapositions or simply playful twists on observed reality, many of the artists I chose for this year's exhibition find endless richness in tinkering with the world while remaining fully part of it, without resorting to abstraction.  Some mined their psyches or that of an imagined other quite playfully and optimistically, without the darker undercurrents often common in this type of work.  On the other hand, the terror of the mind's unknown or blacker

  Back in November of 2013, artists Mary Zeran and Emily Rutledge approached me with the idea of putting together a proposal for an exhibition of our work.   What evolved was “Spaces We Inhabit: Sculptures and Paintings by Alicia Forestall-Boehm, Emily Rutledge and Mary Zeran” at the Hairpin Arts Center in Chicago.   I was familiar with Hairpin having exhibited my encaustic and fiber Vessels in the center’s inaugural exhibition “Come Together”.      Vessel 12, Vessel 14, Vessel 20 on shelves to the right. Mary Ellen Croteau's work to the left Come Together, Hairpin Arts Center   It is a beautiful light-filled windowed space situated in a historical building in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. In my last blog post "Winter Exhibition News" I mused about turning a new wall hanging sculpture, “Place”, into a multi-piece installation.   100+ feet of cotton rope for my ceiling hung sculpture, Spaces We Inhabit   My vision of the a multi-column

Place (detail)   I’m sending two of my newest sculptures to Florida this month.   I am especially pleased that both were accepted as it was the first time I had submitted either for an exhibition.   Place is the largest work I have created to date, measuring 6’7”, twice that if it is laid out from end to end.   I plan to pursue Place as a series that will be hung as a multi-piece installation. Place   6’7”hx8”wx4.5”d    e ncaustic, cheesecloth, cotton cord, foam    Passages has been a work in progress.   I made the base last year and it sat off to the side in my studio waiting for inspiration.   Over time this base changed shape until I came upon the decidedly boat-like form it is today.   It then returned again to that “place of contemplation” off to the side in my studio until one day I spied the roll of copper wire I had in a container of wire and cords.   I really like the combination of metal with wax and fiber.   The small sections of copper wire impale t

The Accumulation of Small Moments  12"hx12"w  Encaustic, Fiber on Panel  Do you ever find yourself in need of a change?  Maybe it's a change as small as a new haircut or maybe it takes the form of a new look to a room in your house.   Perhaps you don’t want a new look, but a new attitude.    Maybe what you seek is a new view of your life or your work?  W hatever it may be, it's always something fun to do because it brings some "newness" into your life.  We all find comfort in the status quo but a little change; something new can be just what we need.  Frozen Music     5.5”hx11”wx6.5”d    Encaustic, Fiber, Wire, Found Metal For a while now I have wanted to change my website.   I wanted to keep the basic design simple and focus on showing my artwork in a straightforward way.   I also wanted to assimilate various social media platforms into my website in order to create a more complete web presence.   My final revisions included tying in th

                                                       Vertical Lines                                                                       15”hx15”wx8”d                    Encaustic, Cheesecloth hand dyed by artist, Hemp cord, Wire, Found metal       in·vite / v. ɪnˈvaɪt; n. ˈɪn vaɪt / Show Spelled [ v. in- vahyt ; n. in -vahyt ]       verb, in·vit·ed, in·vit·ing, noun verb (used with object) 1. to request the presence or participation of in a kindly, courteous, or complimentary way, especially to request to come or go to some place, gathering, entertainment, etc., or to do something.                                                       Unfulfilled Dream                                                         6"hx32"wx7"d Encaustic, Cheesecloth hand dyed by artist, Hemp cord, Wire, Found metal   It is always nice to receive an invitation.  Although, today it is usuall

The Power of Place                 9”hx18”wx11”d                    encaustic, fiber, hemp cord, wire       Inspiration can come from anywhere.   As an artist, I am inspired by the urban landscape. I am drawn to the innate sense of randomness, clutter and change that can define an urban existence.     The landscape of the city and its architecture can seem unwelcoming with its hard edges and its overflow of inhabitants.   In actuality, there is an inherent harmony that exists in a city.   The visual repetitiveness and symmetry of the buildings themselves to the city plans they fill.   The cacophonies of sounds that can, with their aspect of constancy, make for a soothing element of dependability.   And while certainly, there is a certain discordant relationship among some city dwellers, there is a remarkable interchange of order among the majority of inhabitants.  I am also inspired by those people, whose visions helped to create this world.       The Power of Pl

    Earlier this year I was contacted by Kelley Baum, a teacher at Franklin Fine Arts school in Chicago with a request that I participate in the school's annual Arts Day.  I was happy to have been asked and eager to participate in this annual event.  Every year artists from all areas of the arts are invited to spend the day with the student body.  This year artists included dance companies, authors, theater companies, visual artists, actors and musicians.    I have some experience with teaching art in the classroom.  During the 2005-2006 academic year, I designed and implemented a weekly comprehensive art education curriculum for a Montessori class of children ages 6-9.   This curriculum amounted to a hands-on trip through art history.  The challenge was to create weekly projects that not only followed the history of art but were engaging and workable with the ages included in the classroom.  We began with one of the earliest examples of art, cave paintings.  Working wi

Unfulfilled Dream 6"x32"x7" encaustic, fiber, wire, cotton twine, found metal Just about 6 blocks from my house, along the Chicago river, is a huge hole in the ground.  It is 76 feet deep and 110 feet wide and is all that is left of the vision of what was to be the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere.  The 2000 foot Spire, designed by famed architect Santiago Calatrava, was to be an architectural wonder in a city renowned for it's architecture.  Ongoing real-estate woes ultimately resulted in the abandonment of the project and the eyesore that remains.  Unfulfilled Dream A Work in Progress "Unfulfilled Dream" is the first in a series of sculptures that consider the impact that water has on Chicago’s urban landscape.  With beautiful Lake Michigan outlining the city to the east, the Chicago River that winds its way throughout the city and the many lagoons and waterways, water has indeed had an impact on this city.   Water is an el

Coming Together 9x12x13 encaustic, fiber, wire I do not like the cold. I know that many people are eager for the start of winter. They are happy to embrace the snow and the cold and all things winter. Now don't get me wrong, I am not immune to the beauty of newly fallen snow and the wondrous vision of the world enveloped in a white veil during a snowstorm but I prefer to experience this while tucked away in my home without any need to head out into all of this splendor. Needless to say, I am one of the many people that are eager for the start of spring. I love spring. Nature comes to life, replacing the dull colorless landscape with polished green and lovely flecks of color. One of my favorite signs of spring includes the return of boats to our harbors. While sailing along Lake Michigan this early in the year would undoubtedly be chilly to say the least, this action speaks to the optimistic expectation of warmer days to come.     It is with great expectation that I look t

"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work." — Daniel Burnham (1846-1912) Architect Daniel Burnham, whom some consider the inventor of urban planning, offered a vision of what he believed a civilized city should look like at a time of urban disorder. He believed that a city could be both beautiful and efficient.   His work sought to merge things often thought of as opposite such as business with art and the practical with the ideal. Burnham’s influence is strongly felt in Chicago as well as across America. My newest piece, Make No Little Pl ans began as a simple wooden cube. Any of you who are familiar with my work will find this shape to be of no surprise! The square shape encourages balance and underscores the potential dichotomy in everything.    It symbolizes a prolonged state of presence and is a dependable and grounded structure.     I find comfort

I love Fall. I love the cooler temperatures and I love the changing colors & falling leaves and I really love the annual tradition of switching out my summer clothes for my winter clothes. The sight of a favorite comfy sweater almost makes me yearn for chilly Chicago winter days…almost. Not only does the weather change but the city changes. The beaches close, school resumes and in general, the number of visitors is vastly reduced. Now I love living in the city, but the sheer number of tourists that visit every summer can be overwhelming at times. There is a small pocket of time between summer and holiday shopping season where downtown Chicago feels more intimate. The sidewalks are just a little easier to navigate and the restaurants in our neighborhood are actually filled with neighbors. I am particularly happy to welcome Fall this year with a number of exciting exhibitions! Tactile Encounters: The Influence and Appearance of Textures I am pleased to have five 3D encaustic