Today we’d like to introduce you to Alicia Forestall-Boehm.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My story is different from many artists. With an MBA and a background in marketing, I began pursuing my art career in 2008. My ‘elevator speech’, which I have shared in many art talks, begins with my dropping out of the corporate world. Knowing that I did not want to return to school for another master’s degree, I immersed myself in everything art-related from a vigorous studio practice to online and real world experiences including workshops, tutorials and seminars. It was through this exploration that I found my passion; I found my voice. Time spent in my studio is akin to meditation. Pursuing creative expression is often just what I need to conquer internal negativity and conflicts and experience personal growth.
Please tell us about your art.
Living in Chicago, I am definitely influenced by my urban surroundings. There is an innate sense of order but also of constant change. The incredible range of experiences can be messy and overwhelming and I seek to simplify them, making them more manageable. I reduce larger images and concepts into elegant simplified forms that acknowledge and explore the physical and mental boundaries of the public and private spaces we inhabit. My use of mixed media, primarily encaustic, fiber and metal, speaks to the blend of elements that exist in this environment.
While exploring different art mediums, from ceramics to watercolor to acrylic, I discovered encaustic. My initial attraction to this medium was to the incredibly smooth surfaces of many encaustic paintings. Ironically, once I began to work with encaustic, I found myself digging into my surfaces and creating texture. These early paintings were soon brought ‘off the wall’ and my love affair with sculpture began! I found working with my hands immensely satisfying and my vessel series, my earliest sculptural works, employed traditional weaving techniques in a way not previously utilized. Over time my sculptures have gone beyond the initial traditional forms, allowing me to develop new forms for expression.
My newest series of work came from my need to address the current social and political situation of our country and our world. After the November elections of 2016, I, like many others, felt a sense of disbelief. As artists, we have the ability to express ourselves in remarkable and expressive ways, but I was unsure how I could express myself. I was unable to conquer internal and external negativity and found myself, day after day, unable to create. One day, my husband told me to turn off the news and escape the ‘noise’. These words were just what I needed! My latest series of work was included in my recent solo exhibition Alicia Forestall-Boehm: Leaving the Noise Behind at the Victorian House Art Gallery at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois. It includes flowing and curving mixed media sculptures that convey comfort, unity, and time and paintings that reflect many of the profiles found in these sculptures.
Do you have any advice for other artists? Any lessons you wished you learned earlier?
I often tell art students to not overthink where you show your work because you never know what opportunities may come your way. I like to share my story that begins in 2014. I applied for an exhibition at the Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana. The juror was Carter E. Foster, the Steven and Ann Ames Curator of Drawing at the Whitney Museum and I had to take this opportunity to get my work in front of his eyes! (He has since been appointed the deputy director for curatorial affairs and curator of prints and drawings for the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin) While I am pleased to say that my work was accepted and that it received an award, it was also seen by gallery owners Andy Jendrzejewski and Amy DeLap. Andy and Amy contacted me in 2015 to offer me a solo exhibition at their beautiful gallery in Vincennes, Indiana. I must admit, I had to Google Vincennes, Indiana but I also had to Google Terre Haute too when this story began! While, through this one exhibition, I was offered a solo show, I have no doubt that it also contributed to many future opportunities. It’s like the shampoo commercial from the ’70s, “they told two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on…”
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I currently have work in group shows in Chicago and Indiana and will also be part of a 2-woman show with artist Karen Tichy that is titled Unbound: Exploring Possibilities at Oliva Gallery in Chicago in April 2019. My work is included in Linda Robertson’s book Embracing Encaustic: Mixing Media.
In addition to viewing my work on my website www.afboehm.com, you can see my permanent installation This is Your World for the Moment at the Linda White Hospice House at Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, Indiana.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.afboehm.com
- Phone: 312-315-8212
- Email: forestall@ameritech.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aliciaforestallboehm/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alicia.forestallboehm
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/afboehm
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afboehm
Image Credit:
Doug Boehm
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