Alicia Byler

Alicia Byler
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA

STATEMENT

My collage and mixed media work explores themes of ghosts, communication with spirits, and the feeling of being haunted. I incorporate layers of cut-and-paste collage elements–images from collected antique and vintage ephemera, as well as current fashion and home magazines– along with abstract and textured marks made with various mixed media, including watercolor, watercolor pencil, acrylic, pastel and graphite. The resulting scenes are meant to be intriguing and mysterious, a surrealist imagining of what lurks beyond our normal perception.

After all these years I’m still thinking about what it would be like to easily communicate with a spirit, a ghost. Meeting through a portal–a garden, a daydream, in nature, through the senses. Maybe the work itself is a portal, an invitation for the viewer to step in and use their senses to communicate with the images and marks. Then beyond, with an extra-sensory perception. In this way we are all haunted. Haunted by the possibility.

BIO

Alicia Byler’s collage and mixed media work explores themes of ghosts, communication with spirits, and the feeling of being haunted. Her latest solo exhibition “Weirdo Goddess and Other Love Stories” was on display at Curio. Gallery & Creative Supply in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in October/November 2024. She received a 2025 Joseph Robert Foundation grant in support of her participation in the upcoming show “Mixed” at the Lancaster Art Vault. She is also part of two group exhibitions on view in July/August 2025: Third Story Art’s “Stubborn Gladness” in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and the New Orleans Photo Alliance/Kolaj Institute show “Where Photography Meets Collage” in New Orleans, Louisiana. The artist attended month-long residencies in 1997 and 1998 at the Vermont Studio Center. She earned a diploma from the Pennsylvania School of Art & Design and a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Millersville University. She lives and works in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA.

ARTIST CONTACT

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