Cheryl McAlister

Artist Statement

I am a painter working primarily in acrylic and chalk pastel. While I maintain a deep connection to the observed world, I allow myself the freedom to depart from strict representation in favor of open inquiry. My subject matter is the landscape of Maine and northern New England — water, stone, forest, and the shifting light between them.

My approach begins with close observation but moves quickly toward geometric thinking, simplification, and the kind of structural decisions that invite the viewer's own subjectivity into the painting. I work from a constrained palette across a consistent format. My formal question — how far can a painting be pushed toward pure form before it stops being able to say "this place”, and how do I find that edge without crossing it — remains constant while my subject matter, and the way I handle it, continues to evolve.

I received my BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1984 and my MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2002. For twenty-six years I taught painting and drawing at private art schools and served as Associate Professor of Fine Arts at the New England Institute of Art in Brookline, MA from 2001 to 2011. From 2007 to 2016 I farmed in Central Vermont, working the same ground through every season — an experience that continues to shape how I see light, weather, and change in the landscape I paint. I live and work in Maine.