Alisha Kaliciak, MA
‘And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.’
(Genesis 3:7)
Artist Statement
I have for some while been exploring the concept of Paradise and trying to understand why it remains important to us across cultures and centuries; how we quest for it through the pursuit of travel, the creation of art, literature and gardens. Is it a place, or a state of mind; will there always be a ‘worm in the rose’, a snake in the garden?
This year I have been examining images of Adam and Eve and the Serpent. This has taken me from Romanian glass icon paintings to Medieval European manuscripts and William Blake’s illustrations of Milton’s Paradise Lost. I have been interested in observing the shifting depictions of the serpent through time, from snake to part dragon-woman. Stimulated by our glass painting and gilding workshops in the first year and the bold luminous colours of the Romanian glass icons, I have been experimenting with recreating – in stained glass and painted glass – some of the Biblical images such as the Temptation in the Garden of Eden.
In the intricate medieval diaper patterns often used in the background of manuscripts I found textures reminiscent of snakeskin which has led me to experiment with shed snakeskins on gilded mirrors. I combined this with water-colour paintings of fruit, playing with the idea of temptation and the narrative uncertainty over which fruit was borne by the Tree of Knowledge.
I feel the story of Adam and Eve remains relevant and fundamental in its questions about the acquisition of knowledge and its potential for good and for evil. It is also the progenitor story when we quest for that uncertain location: paradise.
Temptation of Eve by the Serpent
Image from 14th Century Latin manuscript: Speculum of Human Salvation translated into stained glass panel
21 x 27.5 cm
Fruits of Temptation: Apple
Water gilded glass with 23.5 carat gold leaf, shed snake skin, watercolour on paper
10.5 x 10.5 cm
Fig Leaves (detail)
Watercolour, gouache and shell gold on tea stained paper
30.5 x 45.5 cm
Biography
Alisha has been a practising NHS doctor in the Southwest of England whilst maintaining a life long interest in art and gradually building an art education; undertaking a Fine Art foundation degree, part time in 2018 in north Devon, doing summer school programmes at Central St Martin’s School of Art and classes in Botanical painting and Life drawing. In 2020 she found out about the King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts from an alumnus and started taking short courses, which ultimately led to her applying for the MA Programme.
Alisha draws inspiration from the natural world and the experience of travel; being an uncertain stranger in unfamiliar landscapes. Her backyard garden attempts to reconvene botanical elements of her travels, including fig and banana trees and Brugmensia; Angel or Devil’s Trumpet, which also become subjects in her work.
Being an MA Student at the King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts has been an immersion in both the craft and philosophy that underpins traditional art, with the joy of sharing learning and with fellow students, all the while surrounded by inspirational work from former students and teachers.
Contact
Instagram : @alishakaliciak
Email: alishakaliciak@hotmail.com