Biography
Whealin paints with ink on paper, paper panels and transparent materials.
Her current paintings explore emotional and psychological aspects of renewal of the human spirit and ideas of natural environment as a source of nurture.
Alice Whealin was born in Philadelphia. She earned her B.A. in Art from Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ. She was accepted into a two-year paid apprenticeship devoted to bronze-casting at The Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture, Princeton, NJ. Afterwards she received a teaching fellowship to the MFA sculpture program at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA with Tufts University, Medford, MA.
Whealin’s artworks have since been exhibited in museums and galleries nationally and internationally. Whealin was awarded a six year studio residency at MOCA Arlington, VA. Museum collections with her artwork include the Museo Della Carta in Fabriano, Italy.
She has held large solos of her works at MOCA Arlington, VA, at George Mason University, VA, at the Mezz Gallery@Artisphere, VA and at the McLean Project for the Arts, VA. She held her most recent solo, “Ebullience,” at the Fred Schnider Gallery, Arlington, VA in 2024.
She has maintained her studio in Arlington, VA full time since 2002.
Statement
I make artworks inspired by landscape, human and animal biology. Themes surrounding the survival of the human spirit are also linked to the central role that nature has in my work for many years.
By combining gestural drawing, saturated color, and organic forms, I create lively and meticulously structured abstract artworks.
I apply ink and watercolor directly onto my surfaces, developing compositions over the course of weeks or months.
My practice includes photographing local sky, natural light and landscape elements daily. These images become a source for light, line, form and color in my paintings.
The survival of the human spirit continues to be a central theme in my work. Within these serious themes, I strive for an ebullience that offers spiritual renewal.
