"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 artist, educator, and creative mentor best known for her pioneering encaustic techniques that combine beeswax, resin, shellac, and raw pigments.
Her work centers on abstracted ethereal landscapes and animated botanical forms, exploring themes of transformation through adversity.
" My current work is inspired by pyrophytic plants that flourish after wildfires, and explores ideas of resilience and awakening through adversity, both in nature as well as the human spirit."
Alicia is a graduate of the Art Institute of Seattle, and her work has been featured on the cover of Professional Artist Magazine, featured in Western Home Journal, The Boston Globe, Encaustic Art Magazine and other publications. Tormey's paintings have been displayed in numerous exhibitions and private collections throughout the United States and abroad. Her works are included in the US State Department's Art In Embassies program and she is a grant recipient of the Artist Trust’s Grant for Artist Projects (GAP) award.
Alicia shares her signature methods through immersive live workshops and online courses, and she is represented by the Patricia Rovzar Gallery in Seattle, Washington.
Gallery Representation:
Patricia Rovzar Gallery | Seattle,WA
Artist Statement
Inspired by pyrophytic plants that flourish after wildfires, my recent work explores the ideas of resilience, adaptability, and transformation, both in nature as well as the human spirit.
There is a parallel between my creative process, which involves the flame of a blowtorch, and the delicate flora that have evolved to thrive and propagate after exposure to heat and smoke.
Much like the seedlings that crack open after a fire, my materials must also endure high temperatures and a flame to transform and develop into explosive botanicals and expansive liminal landscapes.
Each painting in this new series captures the vitality and tenacity of nature emerging after adversity and stands as a reminder that we also have the capacity to endure, evolve and reemerge after facing challenges.
My work is created with encaustic: an ancient painting medium composed primarily of beeswax and tree resin.This material is notoriously difficult to control and often unpredictable… which is precisely what draws me to it.
As a painter, I am in constant dialogue with my materials and I gravitate toward abstraction because it sparks an internal response. Each painting becomes a personal experience, shaped by pareidolia: the phenomenon where the mind perceives meaningful images in random patterns, much like the experience of cloud gazing.
I’ve spent the better part of my life exploring and experimenting in the studio...an ongoing journey that has led to many creative and technical breakthroughs that are reflected in my work.
~ Alicia Tormey
