Curator Statement

 In Alicia Ethridge’s canvases, foreground and background dissolve in an efflorescence of vibrant, intuitive brushstrokes.  This liminality is not only formal but spiritual:  the expression of a state she seeks to conjure through art and prayer.  Indeed, she finds “both are rooted in an intense encounter involving a surrender of willfulness, openness to inspiration and…a deep engagement with mystery.” 

In this new series of works, flora and fauna comingle in lush jungles, reminiscent of Henri Matisse’s enchanting paradise, Le Bonheur de vivre (1905-6).  Yet whereas Matisse depicted nude lovers frolicking in an uninhibited ‘state of nature,’ Ethridge imagines a world in which humans learn from and even defer to nature, yielding to its vitality and wisdom.  These qualities are embodied in the mythic figure of the wolf, who prowls through these paintings.  Rather than engendering fear, for Ethridge mysteriousness constitutes its own form of benevolence.

Artist Statement 

The works in Echoes of Love were created after watching the full Wolf Moon rise on January 25, 2024. Awestruck by this celestial body, I ventured out into the freezing dead of winter, my breath visible in the moon beams; I bathed in its luminosity. In the coming days I investigated myths and symbolic attributes of wolves with specific focus on Celtic stories. The oil paintings in this series employ a deeply personal iconography: wolves (light, shadow, conduit), women (mother and daughter), flowers (hope and new beginnings), birds (spiritual remembrance). 

Wolves are said to bring a strong sense of faithfulness, inner strength and intuition. Some Celtic tales say that wolves who denned in caves were perceived as entering and exiting the other world. They also believed that wolves had the ability to communicate with the spirits of the dead, and that they were therefore able to act as intermediaries between the living and the dead. 

I feel allied with the Wolf as I tend to my connection with my deceased mother. Wolf is teaching me that I don’t have to fear my darkest places and loneliness. It is in the darkness where life and light is born. One cannot exist without the other. Like the howling wolf, I drop into my painting practice, the conduit to the spiritual plane. In this contemplative space, echoes of maternal love are reflected back at me as the images and colors take shape on the canvas. Like the wolf, I have opened myself to relying on my faithful pack to find hope and joy anew.