Alicia Rothman

Lives and works in New York, NY

Artist statement

I work from memory and observation and begin with drawing which becomes painting through a lengthy process of erasure, reworking and using my stencils and patterns to create the final image. The uninhabited landscapes began during the pandemic and continue to evolve with a vocabulary of markmaking developed over many years. I work with oil, stencil , with heavy surface layering with visible erasure marks. I gesso many layers which are sanded and revealed in the final work. "They are not found on any map. True places never are" said Melville in Moby Dick. I also am inspired by William Faulkner in "Light in August". I adore the work of Anne Ryan, Annie Albers and at the same time Byzantine mosaics, floors in Roman churches and landscapes of Hercules Segers as well as any artist who really pushes the materials over a long period in time to find the final piece. This requires skill and is not decoration. My interest in drawing also comes into the animals, semi-abstracted and gestural. The goal is not a realistic image but a fleeting spontaneous feeling of seen in movement.

Artwork