Elaine Dalcher
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Elaine has a reputation for creating bold and colorful oil paintings and is represented in public, private and corporate collections throughout the US & abroad.
MessageElaine Dalcher has earned a reputation for creating bold and colorful oil paintings. Dalcher’s subjects offer the viewer vivid images from a close-up perspective. Whether it is a still life depicting a space in her home or studio, a landscape with a tree standing as a figure against the sky, or most recently a power plant near her Tanglefoot Building studio, she renders subjects in a way that is at once honest, fresh, intimate and familiar.
Dalcher's work continues to evolve as she experiments with materials and techniques. She is inspired by the physicality of oil paint and the challenge of working to create something new. Her goal is to paint a beautiful painting that inspires hope at the same time it challenges the viewer. As we confront the global climate crisis she provides a fresh look at traditional and alternative energy systems through paint, color and unexpected image combinations, offering a relevant approach to contemporary issues.
Dalcher received her MFA from Western Michigan University in 1988 and is represented in public, corporate and private collections throughout the United States and abroad. She has shown her work in many galleries and juried competitions around the country, including LaFontsee Gallery in Grand Rapids, Muskegon Museum of Art, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Artemesia Gallery in Chicago, the Krasl Art Center in St. Joseph, Michigan, Buckham Gallery in Flint, Synchronicity Gallery in Glen Arbor, the Nines Gallery in Holland.
Statement
Artist Statement: Elaine Dalcher
Passionate about the natural beauty of the land, I use a close-up, immersive perspective that invites the viewer into my paintings. Using strong, bold color and energetic brushwork, I strive to create intrigue and offer a fresh, intimate vision of the familiar.
My newest paintings are informed by combining the natural landscape, which has always been the focus of my work, with industrial man-made elements that intrude on the environment. I seek meaning and relevance in the threat we humans pose to the natural world and the resilience, beauty and fragility of nature even as she is encroached upon. Juxtaposing man-made, archaic and unsustainable energy systems, as well as more recently, wind turbines, with the surrounding landscape results in a challenging and beautiful yet dissonant image.
My work continues to evolve as I experiment with materials and techniques. I am inspired by the physicality of oil paint and the challenge of working to create something new. My goal is to paint a beautiful painting that inspires hope at the same time as it challenges the viewer. As we confront the global crisis of climate change, providing a fresh look at alternative energy systems through paint, color and unexpected image combinations offers a relevant approach to a contemporary issue.
As a mid-career artist, working in my studio for over forty years has given me the opportunity to network with other artists, organize and produce major art exhibits and facilitate creativity in others.
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