“Inspired by pyrophytic plants that flourish after wildfires, this body of 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.”

(Text by Alicia Tormey)

Alicia Tormey works in 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 what captivates Tormey’s imagination and the spontaneity in creating with beeswax keeps her wondering 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 abstractly because it triggers a creative response in the mind. Every work of art becomes personalized to each viewer through a phenomenon known as Pareidolia where you see elements and forms that aren’t actually there much like cloud gazing.

Nearly four decades of living in the Pacific Northwest, coupled with a lifelong fascination of science and nature, continues to heavily influence and inform Tormey’s work and as a painter, to conjure, capture and express the spontaneity and unpredictability of the natural world.