London-based abstract artist, Cherry McAlister trained as an architect before returning to creating art at a turbulent time when she felt like she was treading water as a new mother. Her art focuses on working through triggering childhood memories within the new framework of motherhood – the softening of her sense of self, dissolving the imprint of inherited emotions. She looks to capture the mundane and the fleeting reflected upon through the haziness and suspension of her memory.
She is drawn to colour and form, and her works are collaged paintings playing with surface.
Cherry McAlister collection:
THE PATH TO THE COAST
The Path to the coast series are emotive expressions of coastal memories; where rocks and plants and water collide. Drawn to the borders, the edges, the piece explores how each colour and shape interact with its neighbours. The meditative process consists of repeatedly applying paint and removing it in long strokes using a Hake brush until the composition reveals itself.
SPRING FIELDS
These works are characterised by a wood collaged surface on which abstract studies of colour and form are created. They are intuitive memories of a collection of fields captured on a Spring day; a dance between the conscious and unconscious, assembling images across time and location. A child’s perspective and the unrest that it stirs within.
Paper collage forms the first layer with geometric shapes chosen, arranged and overlaid to build depth and shadow. Layers of paint are then applied, inverting and adding to the forms below, distressing where the lines meet. The colour and composition stand out from afar. On approach movement reveals the subtle relief of the collage underlayers. Constant shape-shifting as the day unfolds.
BLUSH
Cherry’s work is driven by a strong sense of place; evocative of a sensorial experience, suspended in time, shrouded in memory. Blush was consciously created with a limited colour palette to manufacture boundaries. Allowing the colour pink to inform the mood of the piece and drive the composition. In conflict paint was moved roughly, scouring areas to the point of scrubbing the paint away.
KISS IN THE RAIN
There is a duality to the inspiration behind Kiss in the rain. This piece took many months to emerge yet each painting session was fervent. In part born out of using wood as a canvas, allowing a heavier hand.
ANNA
Anna is an interpretation of seascapes at dusk.
Painted papers were cut into shapes referencing life, water, moon and sun. The original collage was photographed and digitised, keeping the subtle marks of the brush strokes. It is difficult to see these here as the forms appear more solid. In reality there is a soft, mottled texture.
Each limited edition print is printed on demand on archival sustainable paper with pigment based inks.
For enquiries and further information, please contact Cherry McAlister through her Instagram account – link below.
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