By Rebecca Aldous
The Chronicle
Feb 27 2007
Amelia Alcock-White dreams in waves of colour and streams of emotion.
The vibrant yellows, rich reds, and hypnotic greens which come to her by night splash her canvas by day.
“I love intense colour,” the Ladysmith-born artist says. “Colour has such an effect on the eye and mood itself.”
At 26, Amelia’s playful depiction’s of love and life have hung in galleries across North America, from New York to Los Angeles. Her youth surprises many admirers of her work, but Amelia has grown accustomed to their shock.
She grew up in Yellow Point in a house full of artists, her father painted, as did her grandmother. The remoteness and isolation of the countryside fired her imagination. By the time Amelia attended Ladysmith Secondary School, art already consumed her.
“I was enrolled in every art program they offered,” Amelia says.
She started winning awards for her paintings, which blend both magic and symbolic realism, at a young age. Upon graduating from LSS Amelia studied design at Malaspina University College before moving to Vancouver to pursue painting full-time at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. Amelia still resides in Vancouver.
“[The city] helps me not be too much of a hermit,” she says.
Amelia’s paints are out again as she prepares for a solo exhibition, The Art of Staying Afloat, at Gallery O - Contemporary starting Thursday, March 8, at 7 p.m. The collection of 20 pieces explores romantic themes, while examining the concept of balance, both personal and symbiotic. Dreamlike images of couples in various fluid and precarious situations address the fragility and joy of love. Smooth bodies and faces provoke ones fingers to reach out and touch the canvas. Amelia’s characters often defy the rules of gravity, emphasizing the fantasy state.
“With every painting I learn something more about myself,” Amelia says.
One of Amelia’s recent paintings, Emergence, has become her favorite. The piece depicts a woman stuck in a cube of red jello. Amelia says she sometimes feels stuck in a box, and the painting expresses her need to break out of it.
Initially, Amelia’s paintings start as an idea. Then she makes some rough sketches. In the final stages she may ask friends to pose for her to ensure the body position are lifelike.
“Of course, in a lot of my paintings your body can’t quite make that contortion,” Amelia says.
Amelia spends from 200 to 300 hours on a single painting, which sometimes makes it difficult to watch them sell. But she says that’s all part of the artists job.
If she is not painting, Amelia is dreaming of painting and she can’t image doing anything else.
“[Painting] is a part of me.”
© Copyright 2007 Ladysmith Chronicle
