Arcadia Coffee Company welcomes Peruvian artist Alicia Woodman, known as "ICHA," for a special art exhibit during the month of May. ICHA has been painting for more than 25 years and her work, which is colorful and bright, is reminiscent of some her influences -- Cezanne, Chagall and Matisse.
ICHA lives and paints in her native country, Peru. Many traditional Peruvian motifs are cleverly woven into her pieces and her paintings are strongly influenced by the Peruvian "Colonial Style" portraying Archangels and Mary with child. She carefully combines passion and aesthetics in her work, making it complex and at the same time appealing. Her early works are cubist. She describes her style, "a kind of expressionism, sometimes being figurative, other times being abstract." ICHA notes, "My abstract paintings are a spiritual necessity." The influence of Chagall is evident in her graceful women with ornate accessories, and her intense still life works are evocative of Cezanne. ICHA feels the need to balance her passion and "sinking her soul" into her art without isolating aesthetic considerations. It's the striking of that balance that is essential to her work. ICHA has exhibited her work in Europe, South America, and the United States, including several exhibitions in New York and Greenwich. Although the bulk of her study of art has taken place in various studios in Peru, she has also studied in Boston at the University of Massachusetts and the Fine Art Museum School. She works in her studio in Barranco, an artistic seaside community in Peru. ICHA does have strong connections to the United States and Greenwich, with her daughter and grandchildren living in Greenwich. For more information on ICHA and her paintings,log onto the website www.Aliciawoodman.com.
