What Do You Say?

About What Do You Say?

This contemporary abstract painting by Alice Teichert is rendered in shades of pink.

As one of Canada’s leading contemporary artists, Alice Teichert has spent decades exploring the potential of colour to convey thoughts and feelings. She often refers to her own work as ‘visual poetry.’ This painting displays her expertise in using washes of colour—luminous layers of glazes that create a work of remarkable depth. The seductive, glowing pink hues of this piece radiate with energy. Closer examination of the work reveals other colours that appear like rays of light—lines and markings in blues, lavender, black and a touch of orange. Borders in blue and bright orange frame the work. 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 evoke emotion and invite the viewer into another world.

“Growing up with a mother musician, I was sitting next to her as she was reading dots and lines. And for me, that’s the perfect introduction to abstraction, that carries a code and you learn a language.” Alice Teichert

“To this day, when Teichert picks up a brush, she becomes a conductor. Her orchestra has no cellists or violinists, only shapes and colours. But if we could hear her paintings, they might echo Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.”
Agnieszka Matejko, Arts Writer and Artist

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.