Evolve Urban Arts Project Presents: The Alchemist's Chambermaid featuring works by Dale Alward
OPEN HOUSE & ARTIST RECEPTION: Second Saturday, April 12, 2008 from 4:00 – 7:00PM. Admission: FREE! A unique tasting menu will be paired with selected works. Meet the Artist! We look forward to seeing you.
The title is a metaphor for a painting process.
The alchemist is driven by what is elusive, what will come only through change. The ancient 
discipline of alchemy sought to make precious metals out of common ingredients. In its most noble state, it was the precursor to chemistry; in its lowest, a bastion for fools who sought easy wealth. I refer to the alchemist because he looks for what is not yet present, what is beyond his reach.
The chambermaid is saddled with what is real and abhorred, what must be eradicated. She is granted access to our most intimate spaces in order to change us, or to make us feel better about ourselves. She is a catalyst in the practical world, though she is not revered like the alchemist. I’m interested in the chambermaid because her nature is not to look outside herself and her surroundings; she deals with what is.
The paintings are an exploration of the constant tension between the real and the abstract; between the cerebral and the practical, between the enlightened and the rote. When I paint, I’m simply pushing paint around a canvas. The transformation happens when imagery starts to evolve by painting, cleaning, scraping, and painting over again. And the resulting layers apparent in this way of working hopefully expose this process.
About the artist…
Originally from Massachusetts, Dale Alward has lived in Washington, DC since 1984. With a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, he is currently a self-employed software developer who builds multimedia software for museums around the world. He tries to find time to paint whenever possible.