"The works of Alicia Tormey are wild and intoxicating...
with jewel tones, spacial complexity, abstract passages and
giddy motion".
~ The Boston Globe
Alicia Tormey is an internationally recognized painter based in Seattle and is best known for her inventive techniques using beeswax, resin, shellac, and raw pigments. Abstracted landscapes and wild botanical forms have long been the focus of Tormey’s work. “My paintings are heavily influenced by the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. There’s a special quality of light here that transforms the landscape into mystical, otherworldly places.”
Alicia is a graduate of the Art Institute of Seattle and her work has been featured on the cover of Professional Artist Magazine as well as in numerous other publications including Encaustic Arts Magazine and Studio Visit. She was awarded a Grant for Artist Projects award from Artist Trust in 2014 and her works have been included in numerous public exhibitions and collections throughout the United States and abroad.
Artist Statement
My work is created with encaustic, an ancient painting medium primarily made of beeswax and tree resin. This wax-based material is difficult to manipulate and somewhat unpredictable… which is precisely why encaustic captivates my imagination as an artist.
I show up everyday asking the question: “I wonder what will happen next.”
As a painter, I'm driven by curiosity, passion and a deeply creative spirit. I am constantly experimenting in my studio and pushing the boundaries of my materials, and as a result, I have developed my own unique painting style and techniques.
I prefer to work abstractedly because it triggers a creative response in the mind. Every work of art becomes personalized to each viewer through a phenomena known as Pareidolia, much like the act of cloud gazing, where you see elements and forms that aren’t actually there.
Nearly four decades of living in the Pacific Northwest, coupled with a lifelong fascination of science and nature, continues to heavily influence and inform my work today. As a painter, I attempt to conjure, capture and express the spontaneity and unpredictability of my materials and the natural world.
~ Alicia Tormey
