Alice McMahon White

Profile

Alice McMahon White
Name
Alice McMahon White 
Age
49
City
Chicago
Country
United States
Joined
Dec 2007

Artist Statement

I’m passionate about the act of making art, about capturing the deep meaning expressed in a single glance, or the effects of atmosphere that can color emotions.

All my life I have been fortunate to live with musicians. Music and what I listen to while I paint have a significant power over my process, in what inspires me, in the rhythmic motion of the strokes, in the feelings incorporated into a piece, and is even reflected in the popular song titles of the finished works. I’m also influenced by the paradox of tragic joy that is my Irish heritage.

I enjoy being in touch with the work, and use my fingers to push the pure pigments of pastels or graphite over the paper surface. I choose to depict contemporary places and people, but my goal is to use skill and imagination to produce works that portray the more enduring qualities of the world and of the human condition.

The White Album series

The White Album, my most recent work, is literally a labor of love, twenty years in the making. A quirky “photo-realism” album of my three teenagers, it is foremost a portrait of adolescence. My youngest son is just entering his turbulent teens; middle-child daughter a promising artist at 17-going-on-27; the eldest son, an adult of 20, started his college career at Kent State University, Ohio.

I was on the threshold of my own teen years when the Beatles were the soundtrack for the hippy era. This work draws parallels between then and now, and highlights the universal, eternal character of coming of age. I have attempted to explore the similarities of each generation, despite contemporary sensibilities and recent advances in technology.

A fellow artist recently noted, “We paint to deal with life.” These candid “snapshots” are one way I’ve found to cope with the process of letting go that all parents must make. They document my children’s progress during this transitional time in their lives. Thanks to them, I am still learning.

Subject Matter

This series is done from candid “family album” type snapshots of my three teenaged children, who are new era hippies. The series has been shown once and will be presented in a large gallery space in January 2008, so I’m working on some additional and much larger pieces. All works in the series are either pastel or graphite and are titled for Beatles or John Lennon tunes. Each child is portrayed in a consistent manner throughout the series. My daughter typically covers her face when she sees my camera, so that’s how I’ve portrayed her. My eldest son always has his eyes obscured in some way, either with his long hair or sunglasses. The youngest son is more open and gazes directly at the viewer. These are symbolic of the stages of their growing independence. The graphite drawings in the series are a bit different, smaller scale than the pastels, and the children are more self-absorbed in these works.

The core of the series is the hallmarks of adolescence in today’s world, with parallels to teens of the past; birthdays, fussy eating, talking to friends on cell phones, listening to music on headphones, playing games on laptops, exploring sexuality, and first love. Social issues are also touched on here, illuminating peace, environmentalism, and love of neighbor.

My website is Alice McMahon White Studio