Open Call Opportunity for 2024 to all ALWCA members.
For more information, please contact
Anna Sue Courtney at alabamawca@gmail.com
For more information, please contact
Anna Sue Courtney at alabamawca@gmail.com
SAMANTHA TALLICHET
BEYOND AURORA
ALWCA LOWE MILL Gallery
April 1 - June 3, 2023
Closing reception - Saturday June 3, 2023
5-7pm in the ALWCA gallery 2nd Floor Lowe Mill Arts & Entertainment
Bio -
While growing up in the stargazing and science-centric city of Huntsville, Alabama, my passions always remained firmly within the exploration of humanities and the arts. From a young age, visiting museums to learn about different cultures and art history allowed me to develop an artistic perspective towards the world around me. I was drawn to narrative and traditional works of art because of the classical painting techniques and subject matter. This early interest in visual storytelling, painting, and art history inspired my undergraduate studies and career goals. In 2017, I began my professional journey at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, where I graduated in May 2021 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and a minor in Art History. After graduating, I began working at the Huntsville Museum of Art as an assistant in the Curatorial and Education departments. In November of 2022, I opened a studio on the third floor of Lowe Mill Arts & Entertainment as a creative space to work on my paintings and drawings. It is amazing to be a part of the local art community as it continues to grow in Alabama.
Artist Statement -
My artwork investigates topics that center around the concept of femininity, such as the relation to nature or how women are represented across different forms of media. I do this through narrative and figurative paintings inspired by the Rococo, Baroque, Romantic, Pre-Raphaelite, and Art Nouveau movements. I aim to celebrate the diversity, strength, and beauty of the female form through working from a variety of sources; the subjects of my art include strangers, friends, and myself. This allows for a focus on a variety of personalities, physical features, and body types.
The vibrant and magical drawings and paintings in “Beyond Aurora” examines how women are portrayed in classic fairytales. The art style of this exhibition combines elements of fantasy and realism to present a reimagined, modern twist on the way women are characterized in these stories. The artwork in this series pushes against the old “archetype” that insists princesses need a prince. I hope that the viewer can connect with my artwork in a positive way, whether that be exploring their creative side or finding empowerment.
While growing up in the stargazing and science-centric city of Huntsville, Alabama, my passions always remained firmly within the exploration of humanities and the arts. From a young age, visiting museums to learn about different cultures and art history allowed me to develop an artistic perspective towards the world around me. I was drawn to narrative and traditional works of art because of the classical painting techniques and subject matter. This early interest in visual storytelling, painting, and art history inspired my undergraduate studies and career goals. In 2017, I began my professional journey at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, where I graduated in May 2021 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and a minor in Art History. After graduating, I began working at the Huntsville Museum of Art as an assistant in the Curatorial and Education departments. In November of 2022, I opened a studio on the third floor of Lowe Mill Arts & Entertainment as a creative space to work on my paintings and drawings. It is amazing to be a part of the local art community as it continues to grow in Alabama.
Artist Statement -
My artwork investigates topics that center around the concept of femininity, such as the relation to nature or how women are represented across different forms of media. I do this through narrative and figurative paintings inspired by the Rococo, Baroque, Romantic, Pre-Raphaelite, and Art Nouveau movements. I aim to celebrate the diversity, strength, and beauty of the female form through working from a variety of sources; the subjects of my art include strangers, friends, and myself. This allows for a focus on a variety of personalities, physical features, and body types.
The vibrant and magical drawings and paintings in “Beyond Aurora” examines how women are portrayed in classic fairytales. The art style of this exhibition combines elements of fantasy and realism to present a reimagined, modern twist on the way women are characterized in these stories. The artwork in this series pushes against the old “archetype” that insists princesses need a prince. I hope that the viewer can connect with my artwork in a positive way, whether that be exploring their creative side or finding empowerment.
MISTY GRANADE
SLOWER
ALWCA LOWE MILL Gallery
FEbruary 8 - April 1 2023
Closing reception - April 1, 2023
5-7pm in the ALWCA gallery 2nd Floor Lowe Mill Arts & Entertainment
Bio -
Misty Granade is an abstract mixed media artist from Madison, Alabama and has been an artist her whole life but her professional artist career started in 2013. Misty graduated from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas with a BA in Commercial Art and Psychology. Her work explores themes of feminism and the ever-blurring line between craft and art. Misty counts abstract expressionist Helen Frankenthaler, graphic designer David Carson, and contemporary artist Mark Bradford as influences on her work. Misty’s work has been a part of numerous solo and group shows. Misty enjoys helping other artists explore their own paths. She writes about art and process on her blog. She has published articles in online and print magazines. She’s done online teaching and been a community facilitator for an online art community. Misty is a member of the Alabama chapter of the national arts organization Women’s Caucus for Art whose mission to create community through art, education, and social activism and to promote women’s contributions to the arts.
Artist Statement -
Gluing things together has been an obsession of mine since I got my first bottle of Elmer’s glue. My work is about taking contrasting elements and combining them in beautiful and unexpected ways. To me, collage speaks to the patchwork nature of our lives. I pull memories, ideas, and dreams from my past and combine them with the places, people, and conversations I encounter in the here-and-now for my abstract work. It’s a perpetual cycle of incorporating and reworking my own personal materials. I have a deep love of printed paper materials, and it doesn’t matter if those materials are old book pages, product packaging, or specialty artist papers. I enjoy using all of it in my collages. What challenges me is seeing if I can take printed paper, a universal, utilitarian item; add other media like paint, ink, or pencil to it; and turn it into something beautiful, meaningful, and powerful. My choice of materials may be broader and more sophisticated now, but the impulse to illustrate what’s on the inside of my head remains the same as when I was five. Combining my love of paper and my love of fiber is a new interest for me. These new works that have developed over the past year incorporates my two interests. I’m using traditional crochet stitches but amplifying them by crocheting raw canvas with a giant hook to create a substrate for collage work. I’m using traditional weaving methods but playing with swapping out the weft for paper. Incorporating fibers into my collage work has been challenging because I have had to recreate my processes to fit a much slower work timetable. This slower methodology offers space for contemplation and enjoyment of my materials.
Misty Granade is an abstract mixed media artist from Madison, Alabama and has been an artist her whole life but her professional artist career started in 2013. Misty graduated from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas with a BA in Commercial Art and Psychology. Her work explores themes of feminism and the ever-blurring line between craft and art. Misty counts abstract expressionist Helen Frankenthaler, graphic designer David Carson, and contemporary artist Mark Bradford as influences on her work. Misty’s work has been a part of numerous solo and group shows. Misty enjoys helping other artists explore their own paths. She writes about art and process on her blog. She has published articles in online and print magazines. She’s done online teaching and been a community facilitator for an online art community. Misty is a member of the Alabama chapter of the national arts organization Women’s Caucus for Art whose mission to create community through art, education, and social activism and to promote women’s contributions to the arts.
Artist Statement -
Gluing things together has been an obsession of mine since I got my first bottle of Elmer’s glue. My work is about taking contrasting elements and combining them in beautiful and unexpected ways. To me, collage speaks to the patchwork nature of our lives. I pull memories, ideas, and dreams from my past and combine them with the places, people, and conversations I encounter in the here-and-now for my abstract work. It’s a perpetual cycle of incorporating and reworking my own personal materials. I have a deep love of printed paper materials, and it doesn’t matter if those materials are old book pages, product packaging, or specialty artist papers. I enjoy using all of it in my collages. What challenges me is seeing if I can take printed paper, a universal, utilitarian item; add other media like paint, ink, or pencil to it; and turn it into something beautiful, meaningful, and powerful. My choice of materials may be broader and more sophisticated now, but the impulse to illustrate what’s on the inside of my head remains the same as when I was five. Combining my love of paper and my love of fiber is a new interest for me. These new works that have developed over the past year incorporates my two interests. I’m using traditional crochet stitches but amplifying them by crocheting raw canvas with a giant hook to create a substrate for collage work. I’m using traditional weaving methods but playing with swapping out the weft for paper. Incorporating fibers into my collage work has been challenging because I have had to recreate my processes to fit a much slower work timetable. This slower methodology offers space for contemplation and enjoyment of my materials.
MILLIAn GIANG Lien PHAM
Lackered Luster
ALWCA LOWE MILL Gallery
December 2022 - January 2023
Artist Millian Giang Lien Pham - Bio
After trampling in the muddy rice fields of Vietnam then misreading product labels in the United States, Millian Giang Lien Pham received her BFA in painting and printmaking from the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma and her MFA in sculpture from the University of Florida. Pham’s art practice stems from her traumatic childhood in Vietnam and the painful adaptation in her adopted America. Her works highlight the intangible effects of socio-political structures on the body and the psyche and span a range of different styles and formats. She works with the materials of sculpture, fiber, video, drawing, collage, and verbal language through larger installations and performances. Her research has been exhibited nationally and internationally in Canada, Pakistan, Korea, and across the United States. Pham was a fellow for the I-Park Artist Enclave in East Haddam, Connecticut, the Hambidge Artist Residency in Rabun Gap, Georgia, the ACRE residency program in Steuben, Wisconsin, Santa Fe Art Institute’s Labor Residency in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Virginia Center for Creative Arts in Mt. San Angelo, Virginia as a recipient for the Sarah Stanley Gordon Edwards and Archibald Cason Edwards Fellowship. She previously taught at the University of Florida, Santa Fe College, and the University of Alabama. She currently teaches at Auburn University and practices art in Alabama, USA.
Lackered Luster - Artist Statement
Mixing images and texts from my native Vietnamese with adopted American culture, I’m interested in the experience switching up these symbols and codes as a metaphor for changes in perception. My compositions switch from embroidered and painted text to imagery that reevaluate the framework of fine art and seemingly lowbrow craftwork. I place traditional Vietnamese cultural images or exotic fruits next to words that allude to broken tradition, intergenerational trauma, and certain inherited notions of class, gender, and culture. I’m interested in highly abstracting these words to the point of near illegibility, hiding phrases and presenting them as ambiguous visual puzzles. Since the answer to each puzzle is provided in the title of each piece, the works aim to reorient the viewer toward issues beyond mere appreciation of surface elements. It is an opportunity to navigate toward deeper dimensions through the mode and code switching of visual and verbal perception.
After trampling in the muddy rice fields of Vietnam then misreading product labels in the United States, Millian Giang Lien Pham received her BFA in painting and printmaking from the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma and her MFA in sculpture from the University of Florida. Pham’s art practice stems from her traumatic childhood in Vietnam and the painful adaptation in her adopted America. Her works highlight the intangible effects of socio-political structures on the body and the psyche and span a range of different styles and formats. She works with the materials of sculpture, fiber, video, drawing, collage, and verbal language through larger installations and performances. Her research has been exhibited nationally and internationally in Canada, Pakistan, Korea, and across the United States. Pham was a fellow for the I-Park Artist Enclave in East Haddam, Connecticut, the Hambidge Artist Residency in Rabun Gap, Georgia, the ACRE residency program in Steuben, Wisconsin, Santa Fe Art Institute’s Labor Residency in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Virginia Center for Creative Arts in Mt. San Angelo, Virginia as a recipient for the Sarah Stanley Gordon Edwards and Archibald Cason Edwards Fellowship. She previously taught at the University of Florida, Santa Fe College, and the University of Alabama. She currently teaches at Auburn University and practices art in Alabama, USA.
Lackered Luster - Artist Statement
Mixing images and texts from my native Vietnamese with adopted American culture, I’m interested in the experience switching up these symbols and codes as a metaphor for changes in perception. My compositions switch from embroidered and painted text to imagery that reevaluate the framework of fine art and seemingly lowbrow craftwork. I place traditional Vietnamese cultural images or exotic fruits next to words that allude to broken tradition, intergenerational trauma, and certain inherited notions of class, gender, and culture. I’m interested in highly abstracting these words to the point of near illegibility, hiding phrases and presenting them as ambiguous visual puzzles. Since the answer to each puzzle is provided in the title of each piece, the works aim to reorient the viewer toward issues beyond mere appreciation of surface elements. It is an opportunity to navigate toward deeper dimensions through the mode and code switching of visual and verbal perception.
