Alicia Forestall-Boehm

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 ...

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...

                                                       Vertical Lines                                                                       15”hx15”wx8”d                    Encaustic, Cheesecloth hand dyed by artist, Hemp cord, Wire, Found metal       in·...

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 am...

    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....

Well summer has taken it's time getting to Chicago but it is finally here!  The cool rainy weather has kept me indoors and in the studio creating work.  I am happy that many of these new pieces have been included in area exhibitions.  Staci Boris, Chief Curator for the Elmhurst Art Museum juried two of my sculptures, Vertical Lines and Considering Mies , into the Summer Show at Water Street Studios in Batavia. I am thrilled to learn that I was chosen as an Honorable Mention artist in this show. The show was beautifully curated.  I was particularly pleased to see Vertical Lines hung out in the open.  Given the small size of my studio this piece was never afforded the space that gives it it's sense of floating.    The Water Street Studios Gallery Summer Show runs July 12-Aug 24, 2013 http://www.waterstreetstudios.com/   Vertical Lines  The name of this sculpture, Vertical Lines , was influenced by the ...

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.  ...