Soul of Wonder

About Soul of Wonder

This luminous contemporary abstract painting is by Alice Teichert.

At the heart of Alice Teichert’s work is an innate understanding of the power of colour and its infinite potential to evoke emotion. Teichert’s narrative has always explored how light plays with colour and, together with gestural form, creates a dynamic narrative.
With this piece, her signature layering of translucent pigment is rendered in a deeply rich palette—plum colours mingled with purple, melon and pale golden hues. The viewer’s eye is drawn to the central image—a luminous sphere that appears to radiate with energy. Horizontal lines in a soft pink offer contrast and provide an almost musical rhythm to the work. Behind these layers, the text is just visible, a hallmark of Teichert’s work that betrays her background in printmaking. Bolder lines in purple, red, navy, orange and cerise provide the base.
The complex lacework of soulful elements in Alice Teichert’s art is rooted in a life spent embracing the arts—playing music, writing and drawing. Alice’s mother was an accomplished pianist, and once, while she was playing, an artist and family friend encouraged a 12-year-old Alice to draw the sound of her mother’s music. Teichert’s own poetic visual language is designed to invite the viewer into another world.

“I approach painting like a printmaker. So the preparation of the paint and everything around me has to be in place. Each preparation of the surface is one short gesture. That’s why I work on eight pieces at once. Most of the time is spent on the layers to create that depth. Then I add punctuation marks…it could be a mark or a little arabesque-like gesture.” Alice Teichert

Alice Teichert was born in Paris, France, in 1959. She studied music, philosophy and visual arts in Belgium and France. Teichert’s degree in printmaking and subsequent work solidified a lifelong fascination with text, another signature element of her artwork. Teichert moved to North America in the mid-1980s, living between New York City and Toronto. There, she met some of the most respected abstract expressionist artists of the time, including Jules Olitski and Kenneth Noland. Helen Frankenthaler, a major player in the history of American post-war painting, was highly regarded for her spontaneous approach and fluid, lyrical style and became a mentor to Teichert.

Since 1989, Alice Teichert has built an international career with over 40 solo exhibitions in Canada, France, Switzerland, Germany and Australia. The recipient of numerous awards, in 2024, she was inducted into the prestigious Royal Academy of Canadian Arts (RCA) in recognition of her exceptional contribution to the visual arts. Alice Teichert’s paintings are held in many private, corporate and public collections worldwide.