Friday, September 30, 2011

Excerpts from The Creative Life in Leyden article



Excerpt from The Greenfield Recorder's LIFE & TIMES *9/3/2011
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 made Leyden their home.

Alicia Hunsicker

Working from a home studio in Leyden, 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 by Worcester State University, now through Nov. 30.
"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 Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vt. There, she was one of 50 artists from around the world who were given an apartment, studio and meals to allow them to concentrate on their work.
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 Brattleboro, Vt. The show will start on the day of the town's monthly "First Friday Gallery Walk" Nov. 4, and run through Dec. 31.
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 Leyden, as well as exhibit listings and samples of their work, visit:
www.artistsofleyden.com.

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Alicia Hunsicker's art is undeniably beautiful. She is an expert at extracting the highly-detailed textures and fibers of the human body, bringing them from darkness, into the light, with a technical precision that rivals any modern-day master.
David Aquino, Brattleboro Reformer