Living Arrangements: New Work by Alicia Little

In April Alicia Elizabeth Little took up residence in Live(In) Gallery.  With this new body of work the artist, having just moved house, examines her domestic surroundings and all that they imply through a series of arrangements, both serious and mundane. Within a domestic space one is forced to think about compromise, roles, status, accommodation, adaptation, and comfort.  A house is a constructed setting, within which we strive to meet the needs of our biological functions, as well as aesthetic impulses. The inclination to decorate and arrange stems from observations of balance that exists in the natural world. Through the use of artificial materials, such as faux plants, and plastic, we try to simulate this balance, while also attempting to accommodate not only our aesthetic, but that of other members of the household as well. Using everyday items, Little presents a variety of works whose placement results in a kind of tension between objects and space. The results of these meditations suggest scenarios of struggle and imperfection, while the use of plastic  found objects and thick paint maintains a glossy appearance.

 The work of Alicia Little is both familiar and strikingly odd. She possess an innate ability to transform mundane objects in such a was as to make them impossible to turn away from quickly. I first became familiar with Little's work while she was a student at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Her use of color and shape is spellbinding, it's a little bit Eva Hesse and a little bit pastel pop art rolled into one.  Sharing space with Little's work was a joy, but at times a negotiation and required quick reflexes. This was true particularly for one of the works that balanced precariously on three golden legs. One had to make sure that the feet of the sculpture were placed just so in the grooves of the floor. 

My favorite of her works from the show at Live(In) involved a plaid Thermos, latex, faux ivy, a tassel,  and a mustard-colored grid-like plaster shape attached to the wall. This piece, was so fascinating to live with, the faux ivy seemed to challenge the real plants located in the apartment simply by being there. As the month of April marched on I found myself noticing more details to this particular work. The yellow of the plaster piece mimicked the yellow in the plaid pattern on the Thermos. The playful tension of this piece fit in the space with all its faux gaudy glory.

Following her graduation she and fellow classmate Liz Hardy had a two woman show at Hobohaus Gallery. Alicia was also part of the final? show at Hobohaus in November of last year. Her piece involved a simple set of house blinds and gold foil.

Alicia Little is a sculptor and painter from Cincinnati, OH.  She received her BFA from the Art Academy of Cincinnati in 2013. Combining multiple objects and using walls to create three-dimensional paintings, her work focuses on empathizing with objects and perceiving struggles based on their placement and arrangement. Alicia seeks to enlarge and dramatize these often mundane struggles through the use of color, tension, and balance within a space. She often places things close together and in clusters, similar to how one would arrange furniture and decorations within a home. Her work stems from a combination of everyday stimuli that she often processes and formulates into visual experiences.

Beginnings: Live(In) Gallery

In March of this year I, along with my amazing roommate Amy, started a gallery space in our living space. This project is something that has been simmering in my mind for quite a bit of time, and to finally see it realized is nothing short of astonishing. When U.turn Art Space ended in 2011 I began thinking of ways I might continue to stretch myself as an artist and curator. I was lucky to have been part of  U.turn, to work with such awesome and talented collective cohorts and visiting artists. In that time I learned so much about what it takes to accomplish all that we made happen. 

When I moved into the third floor apartment in Brighton with Patricia in the fall of 2011 I began to have little day dreams about our gloriously long hallway and how it might become a gallery. It has taken almost three years (a new roommate, heartbreak, new friends, and countless doubts along the way) to actually manifest these ideas and goals, but I am so looking forward to sharing my vision with a community. 

This first show, The Residents, is a love letter to the Brighton District (where Live(In) is located), and to the building in which we live. Let them have their OTRs and Northsides I'm a Brighton girl. My neighbors consist of a mix of classic Cincinnati industries including: breweries, pickle factories, even a slaughterhouse. I've been told that the alley behind our building is known as "blood alley" due to our close proximity to the latter. I have always reveled in this and the decision to make this the location for my home and now gallery was a fairly natural choice. I thought about the history of the this neighborhood and the history specifically of the apartment I call home. Before I lived there it was home to other artists and with that in mind I contacted the former residents to participate in the inaugural exhibition. In corresponding with the artists a fondness for the space came up again and again. Hearing this made me feel more confident in my plan to open our door to share the space with artists and neighbors. I don't know how long the gallery will continue, but for now my hope is to  invite a new artist, or group of artists into the apartment and have a new show each month. 

The group show included work by myself, Molly Donnermeyer, William Hutchinson, Matt Morris, Patricia Murphy, Brett Price, Eric Ruschman, Amy Scarpello, and Michael Vallera. Spaces, homes, hallways, bedrooms all have a history, Live(In) Gallery is no exception. Situated in a building established in 1850, in the historic Brighton neighborhood, this space has served many purposes over time, some mysterious, some less so. In 2006, after an extensive renovation, it became home to artists. Since then it has continued to house and host a parade of creatives; their pets, their passions and proclivities, each time gathering some new layer of dust, hair and secrets to be shared. Each of the artists included in The Residents are linked by place, domesticity and craft, having lived and created while sheltered in the same walls. The works included in this maiden exhibition vary from photography and installation, to performance and auditory. 

Living with the work for a month was strange and wonderful. Some of the works required my attention and constant awareness. Patricia Murphy's works of delicate ephemeral materials floated like beautiful brightly colored ghosts outside our bedroom doors. Each time the door was opened the pieces would move and often I found myself transfixed by their presence. This work acted as a reminder of when Patricia lived with me in the space, a residue of her presence.

One of Matt Morris' works, la lumière du jour, required Amy and myself to refrain from turning the lights on in the bathroom between the hours of sunrise to sunset. This created at times a beautiful challenge to one's daily routine. I found it gave me both an appreciation for the lack of artificial light, and a love for those beautiful pale silvery grey mornings as we slowly transitioned to spring. One of my own installations for the show was also located in the bathroom. I filled the sink with some of the soap crowns I had created for a show at Creative Gallery in 2009. I was careful to fill the sink with the crowns just to the point where your hands didn't quite brush against them. The crowns were coated with bits of my own hair and so there was a kind of a gross beauty present in the act of washing one's hands.

Live(In) Gallery is an alternative arts space in Cincinnati, Ohio. Live(In) exhibits emerging and established artists with an emphasis on experimental, ephemeral, and collaborative works presented in a domestic setting.

More posts to come as I continue on this home-base gallery project.

Special thanks to Alex, Alyssa, Derek, Jason, Matt, Eric, Brett, Will, Mike, Patricia, Lindsey, and my parents for all they did. A very special thanks to Natalie for capturing the first opening in a very cool time lapse video. Visit her site to view her beautiful photography.

xoxomolly