Ali Herrmann
- Michael Hanna
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Ali Herrmann is a collage painter who has exhibited across the United States, especially and extensively in New York State. Recent exhibitions in New York include solo shows such as Adirondack Lake Arts Center in Blue Mountain Lake, Pause Gallery in Troy and collective exhibitions at Albany Center Gallery as well as Opalka Art in Albany, J. Gernon Fine Art, Arts Center of the Capital Region, and J. Gernon Gallery in Troy, Spring Street Gallery in Saratoga, Main Street Arts in Clifton Springs, and Dorsky Museum of Art in New Paltz. Alie has received grants from SCR Individual Grant, New York State Council on the Arts, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Massachusetts local cultural council grant, and Martha Boschen Porter Fund Grant. She has conducted residencies at Millay Colony in Austerlitz, New York, Main Street Arts, and Vermont Studio Center.
Inspired by fungi, bacteria as well as cellular blood, Ali constructs collage paintings with paper and ink or paint which reflect the essence of biological structures. Although inspired by biology, the paintings seem organically abstract as if based on imaginative design elements. Similarly, Ali’s patterns are inclined to resemble florals, coral, or seashell-type forms. These asymmetrical, free-formed entities contain a fragmented structure through composition yet whole in the overall color harmony through a mix of neutral and warm tones.
These organic planes of substance reveal a purpose of abstraction beyond ornamental traits and based on inspiration based on qualities which are the essence of life, such as microbiological references. Whether assembled through a grid, laid out in a central composition, or filling up the entire space, Ali’s collage paintings express a variety of exposure and interpretations of puristic form. Often intricate and nuanced, the busyness within the works provokes stimulation and a heightened sense of awareness towards planes of abstraction.
A Language of Shapes (pictured above) reveals a composition steeped in symbolism and iconography. The piece reflects the very basis of structure based on biological or natural elements. With spheres protruding inner linearity, the forms could be an interpretation of any structure, whether natural or artificial. A clever piece which imbues visual language with a variety of compositional capacity.
Ali Herrmann creates mesmerizing planes which are as soothing as they are stimulating. Through comforting, sensual forms based on biology as well as a heightened sense of stimulation by intricate design applications, she bridges a conceptual composition which invokes various emotional impulses through organic structure as well as compositional balance and grace through intricate composure. Ali’s color palette contains sophisticated applications of unity which contrast with the irregularity of structural components contained within the collage paintings. A talented artist and a lover of science, Ali Hermann invents a realm which reinterprets the forces of nature through abstracted consumption, symbolism, linear progression as well as having a talent for integrating forms into a cohesive composition despite their fragmented layout and structure.
