Excerpt from The Greenfield Recorder's LIFE & TIMES *9/3/2011
By DAVID RAINVILLE
By DAVID RAINVILLE
The Creative Life in Leyden
When thinking of small-town artists, paintings of landscapes, farm buildings and animals may come to mind, but the abstract work of three Leyden artists couldn't be further from folksy.
Maybe it's something in the water, or maybe it's the serenity of the hills, but whatever the cause, something about the little town of less than 900 residents seems to foster creativity. The following three artists, as well as several others, have madeLeyden their home.
Alicia Hunsicker
Working from a home studio inLeyden , Alicia Hunsicker uses a variety of media to create her art. She works in oil paints, digital photography, Xerox transfers, and acrylic under-paintings, done on paper, board or canvas.
Her painting, "Moments of Creation," sets neurons against a multi-colored backdrop, with orbs that could be interpreted as thoughts in the making.
"My interest lies in using patterns found both in nature and the body -- brain neurons and tree roots, for example," she said. "My current themes are inner and outer, micro and macro, and materialization and dematerialization. They all evolve from the idea of the moment of creation, when a thought manifests into form."
Hunsicker says her style is based on realism, with things placed in a surreal way, in what some would call a "visionary style," but feels that her work can't be categorized.
Her "Inherent Divinity" series can be seen in the Worcester Windows Summer Exhibition presented byWorcester State University
"In this work, I transform the eye and hand into symbols that represent the divine," she said. "This series is more than just an exploration of the divine spark in us all; it's about the creative process and about mapping of self. (The pieces in the series) are mixed media works on paper."
Hunsicker has received several grants and awards for her work and, last summer, she was invited to a month-long residency at theVermont Studio Center in Johnson , Vt.
This fall, she will feature about eight paintings from her "Moments of Creation" series in a solo show at the Gallery in the Woods, inBrattleboro , Vt.
For more from Hunsicker, visit her blog at http://www.aliciahunsicker.blogspot.com/. She also welcomes tours of her home studio; if you're interested, email her at mahunsicker@netzero.net.
When thinking of small-town artists, paintings of landscapes, farm buildings and animals may come to mind, but the abstract work of three Leyden artists couldn't be further from folksy.
Maybe it's something in the water, or maybe it's the serenity of the hills, but whatever the cause, something about the little town of less than 900 residents seems to foster creativity. The following three artists, as well as several others, have made
Alicia Hunsicker
Working from a home studio in
Her painting, "Moments of Creation," sets neurons against a multi-colored backdrop, with orbs that could be interpreted as thoughts in the making.
"My interest lies in using patterns found both in nature and the body -- brain neurons and tree roots, for example," she said. "My current themes are inner and outer, micro and macro, and materialization and dematerialization. They all evolve from the idea of the moment of creation, when a thought manifests into form."
Hunsicker says her style is based on realism, with things placed in a surreal way, in what some would call a "visionary style," but feels that her work can't be categorized.
Her "Inherent Divinity" series can be seen in the Worcester Windows Summer Exhibition presented by
"In this work, I transform the eye and hand into symbols that represent the divine," she said. "This series is more than just an exploration of the divine spark in us all; it's about the creative process and about mapping of self. (The pieces in the series) are mixed media works on paper."
Hunsicker has received several grants and awards for her work and, last summer, she was invited to a month-long residency at the
This fall, she will feature about eight paintings from her "Moments of Creation" series in a solo show at the Gallery in the Woods, in
For more from Hunsicker, visit her blog at http://www.aliciahunsicker.blogspot.com/. She also welcomes tours of her home studio; if you're interested, email her at mahunsicker@netzero.net.
For more on these and other artists who hail from the hills of
www.artistsofleyden.com.
