Alicia Forestall-Boehm

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 ...

Tendency of Thought (18"x18", encaustic, cheesecloth) A number of months ago I looked at a call that I wanted to apply to and saw that it specified “Only 2D” submissions. Now given that I have focused on 3D work over the last year or so, I thought this was a nice little challenge. Challenges are a good thing. They encourage us to experiment and they test our willingness to step out of our comfort zone. Sometimes these challenges emerge as mere questions; how can I hang this sculpture on the wall, how can I use this material differently, how can I convey this idea? A good number of these deliberations remain ‘on the back burner’, so to speak, waiting for that spark of inspiration. Sometimes that spark happens right away. I see something new that hints at an answer, or look at the problem in a whole new way. Sometimes it’s just that infamous 'happy accident'. With this submission challenge, I knew that I wanted to incorporate both encaustic and cheesecloth...

Approximately a year ago I commissioned Rodney Thompson to make me custom designed cradled panels with recessed pockets. It was my plan to fill these pockets with delicate square boxes made of encaustic paint and cheesecloth. While creating these petite cubes using no wire supports was a challenge that I happily took on, my attention was diverted to the development of my encaustic and fiber vessel and sculpture pieces. Time and time again I admired these beautiful panels knowing that I would return to them and I am happy to announce that the first of these box assemblages, Moving Day, has been selected for inclusion in the exhibit Hot Wax in the City at the Morpho Gallery in Chicago. Whether working in 2D or 3D, I find myself returning to the geometry of the square. I believe that it not only underscores the potential duality in everything, it encourages balance. It symbolizes a prolonged state of presence, a dependable and grounded structure. By creating these delicat...

The idea of an artist’s process has always fascinated me. Everyone thinks and works in a way unique to them. The steps an artist takes that lead to a finished painting is incredibly interesting and telling. Every artist can paint a line on a canvas but none of these lines will look the same and it is who they are and what they bring to the making of that line that makes each artist and each painting unique. In the 1960’s Roy Lichtenstein brought his unique voice to the art world. His hard-edged precise compositions have been said to have defined the pop art movement. This summer the Art Institute of Chicago has brought together the largest group of Roy Lichtenstein’s work, including drawings, paintings and sculptures, to show the scope of his process and interests in the exhibition Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective. I was most taken by the portion of the exhibition entitled Works on Paper. Here a collection of preliminary drawings that were made as precursors to finished p...

I always find it to be wonderfully thought-provoking to learn the whats, the whys and the hows about a particular piece or about a body of work. Understanding an artist’s process can be incredibly fascinating and telling. I am a very process oriented artist and this is evident in many of my series including my encaustic Urban Windows series, my encaustic tile Tesserae series and most recently in my encaustic and fiber vessels and sculptures. Last month I began a new encaustic and fiber sculpture and I thought that it might be interesting to document the making of this new piece. Window no. 34 (6.75"x6.75",encaustic) Tesserae X (18"x18", encaustic tiles) Since I made my first encaustic and fiber Vessel in 2011, each work was created in a purely intuitive manner. As my designs became larger and more complex I began to create models. Coming Together began as a drawing and from this drawing I made a paper model. By creating this model I was...

Digital artist Thomas Broadfoot creates remarkable three-dimensional art. Recently, Thomas told me that he had created a new work inspired by my encaustic and fiber Vessel Series. As you can imagine, I was very flattered and excited to see the result. The Basket is the first in a series using his interpretation of an object that is weaved. http://artbysilentgallery.broadfoot.biz/blog/2012/05/the-basket/ Using a computer program called Hexagon, he begins a piece by doodling until a concept is formed. From here, he creates the depth, dimensions, shape, color and size of the object. While creating The Basket, Thomas determined that through the use of thickness he was able to emulate a weave like pattern. Another program, VUE, is then used to create the background, texture, dimensions and materials, generating the final look and feel of the piece Each piece can take anywhere from 20 hours to one week to finish. On any given day he can have between 10-35 pieces in various st...

They’re taking Marilyn down today! And while some will miss her, I must say that I am happy to see her go. I am talking about J. Seward Johnson’s 26 foot tall statue of Marilyn Monroe that was installed on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile last summer. Art or kitsch was the popular debate. She was wildly popular as a photo op with tourists due to her size and location. I went beyond the love/hate issue with this piece of public, art and posed the question “is bigger always better when it comes to art?” in a blog post that I wrote for FUSEDChicago.org in September of 2011. Below is that post. Is Bigger Always Better… When it Comes to Art? This summer’s installation of “Forever Marilyn”, Seward Johnson’s large scale public sculpture of Marilyn Monroe on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, has served to renew the debate about whether large scale public art always qualifies as “art”. So, when considering art, does size matter? This discussion has led me to ask the same question of all a...