A Conversation with Angela Beloian, "PRISMS", Walker Fine Art, by James Scarborough
March 07, 2025
In Angela Beloian's paintings, fantasy and reality intertwine in a mesmerizing underwater ballet. Her mixed media works reveal a vision of ecological harmony where microscopic and macroscopic worlds coexist. Drawing from both scientific precision and imaginative freedom, she creates luminous aquatic dreamscapes that pulse with life. Her delicate line work traces jellyfish tendrils, sea anemones, and coral formations against watercolor-like backgrounds that shift between cerulean blues and misty grays. The paintings function as both biological studies and spiritual meditations. They invite us to lose ourselves in these intricate ecosystems that transform environmental concerns into visual poetry. She offers us a glimpse of what balanced coexistence might look like: a world where diverse lifeforms thrive in symbiotic relationships. This suggests both nostalgia for pristine natural systems and hope for ecological restoration.
The exhibition also features works by Bryan Leister, Allison Svoboda, Chris Richter, and Atticus Adams.
Below follows an email conversation with Angela Beloian.
JS: Your new work exists in an ambiguous space between air and sea. What inspired this atmospheric quality? How does it serve your artistic vision?
AB: I remember a time when I was snorkeling in the ocean and I chose to focus on and follow a single fish. As I meandered behind it, I remember feeling as though floating in the water was what I imagined flying through air might feel like. Several years ago I began painting solid shapes of color around the subject in my paintings to signify the volume of atmosphere that surrounded it. It’s easy to imagine the air as a void around us because it’s invisible but in actuality it is a substance. I like to play with the feeling of floating or flying in my work because it evokes for me a sense of lightness of spirit. I sometimes feel overly grounded or rooted in my body or mind; envisioning a space where I am free to expand from these constraints opens up a world of possibility.
JS: Your quote mentions imagining "a world in which balance is restored." How do these paintings function as ecological propositions rather than just aesthetic objects?
AB: Feeling a sense of belonging to something larger than one’s Self is central to my intent in creating art. We move through the world in an individual body, reacting to stimuli from our senses and this can often feel isolating. When I challenge myself to think from a wider perspective, I can begin to imagine how I am connected to a larger system and how my actions affect the environment in which I live. Having this awareness is the beginning of visualizing and subsequently moving in the direction of creating the world in which I wish to live. My paintings are visual representations of this thought process.
JS: Your work displays a tension between controlled line work and fluid, atmospheric backgrounds. Discuss your technical process.
AB: I like the idea of “growing” a painting in which the work is a conversation with natural elements and develops as one decision leads to the next. I begin in my outdoor studio where I create non-objective, organic backgrounds using the foliage in my garden. This results in a shadowy, painted surface that becomes the “primordial soup” where I look for new life. I spend a few days gazing, meditating and sometimes sleeping in front of the painting, listening and looking for patterns to emerge as I learn its personality. Slowly, images and ideas germinate and I begin to draw. In the final phase of working, I “erase” the background noise by painting a transparent veil to quiet the work. My desire is to create an environment that engages and yet remains serene.
JS: The exhibition title "PRISMS" suggests transformation and refraction. How do your works engage with themes of light, perception, and the revealing of hidden dimensions?
AB: The painted veil that quiets the background in my work is a translucent shimmer. It allows the history of my process to show through, but the glaze alters the color and tone of the original marks and integrates them into the final image. The figures in the work are inspired by recognizable flora and fauna, but like a prism bends light, their forms have been altered by the environment they inhabit. The result is that they belong and are part of the whole.
JS: Your paintings feature recurring motifs like jellyfish, flowers, and butterfly-like forms. What draws you to these organic structures?
AB: I grew up in Southern California where gardens and beaches are tied to many of my childhood memories. In elementary school, we visited the tide pools where I was allowed to hold a sea cucumber. It was the most amazing creature I had ever seen or felt. My grandmother’s garden was home to plants like “string of pearls” and “ranunculus.” I was fascinated and learned their names at a young age. Curiosity towards biodiversity is a reminder that I am a small part in something much grander.
JS: How has your artistic approach evolved over time regarding your ecological themes?
AB: Beginning my process with pre-existing marks has been a constant thread in my work. In the early 2000’s, I began working with found fabrics as a starting point in an attempt to mitigate consumer waste. I sewed disparate patterns side by side and connected them visually with black ink poured in an irregular branch-like line over the surface. The paintings “grew” from this line and I “erased” the unnecessary background patterns with solid forms of color. This black line permeated my work for about 10 years. In 2016 I created a series in which the line meandered over wood panels, weaving in and out of the grain. I saw these forms as topiaries or nests and I drilled holes in the panel and used leather cord to sculpturally tie and bind the painted line in an effort to tame and control it. This act of sewing the work led to a series of drawings focused on web-making. My father built my childhood home and his profession cultivated my fascination with construction. Like a spider weaving a web or a bird building a nest, I’m motivated and inspired to use the materials at hand to construct something new.
JS: The other artists in "PRISMS" work with different mediums and approaches. How do you see your work in conversation with theirs within the exhibition's curatorial framework?
AB: Each artist in this exhibit has a different approach to the theme and it’s exciting to find points of connection. Atticus Adams speaks in his artist statement of memories on his grandmother’s porch in Appalachia, the light filtering through the screen door. The materiality of his sculptures and the soft, romantic quality of the light as it plays on the surface echoes the translucent, ethereal space in my paintings. Chris Richter’s work is achieved through an elaborate process of building up layers and sanding them back, revealing the history of the mark making in the process, similar to the way in which I “erase” elements in my work. Allison Svoboda is drawn to fractal geometry and patterns found in nature. Her kaleidoscopic forms mirror the repetition and geometry in my imagined environments. Lastly, Brian Leister paints detailed landscapes with an ocean horizon very low on the canvas. The vastness of the sky dominates the composition and is filled with an otherworldly, abstract apparition created through a process using sedimentation and evaporation. His work is a balance of controlled mark making and natural puddles of ink and water, resulting in a landscape that is simultaneously familiar and altered. His process of being in dialogue with the nature of the materials in the work, allowing them voice, is a point of connection with my process.
JS: Your work exists at the intersection of scientific observation and spiritual contemplation. How do you navigate between these seemingly disparate approaches?
AB: In college, I studied engineering. I am curious about how the world works but I’m also creative and appreciate that there are many things I can’t begin to understand. I begin each day with a meditation practice. There’s a point in which my knowledge ends and I am in a space of unknowing. This is a really interesting space in which to engage with the creative process.
JS: The exhibition material mentions that your work offers "hope and possibility for the future." What role do you believe art can play in addressing ecological crisis?
AB: Morning meditation allows space for me to visualize how my day might unfold. I find this practice helpful as it allows me to live with intent and respond to the world as opposed to being reactive and unfocused. We are in a time of great transformation and mindful, focused actions will be more beneficial than reactive ones. When I make a painting, I’m actively visualizing something new and unknown. This is a skill that I can apply to my life and affords the opportunity for transformation and growth. My hope is that we practice visualizing a world in which all life can thrive and flourish. Only then can we begin to do the work of creating it.
JS: Throughout your career, you've maintained a focus on natural forms and ecosystems. What continues to sustain your fascination with these subjects?
AB: As I age, I’m becoming more aware of cycles. From my need to sleep each night in order to wake up energized, to the trees becoming dormant each winter and blossoming in the spring, to the passing away of friends and family and the birth of babies, these cycles are everywhere. They remind me that I can work within the ebb and flow of life and that everything is always changing. It’s sometimes easy to slip into a place of being afraid of change, but learning to follow nature’s lead and let go keeps my life and work refreshing.
The exhibition runs from March 14 to May 3, 2025. The Walker Fine Art is located at 300 West 11th Avenue #A, Denver, Colorado 80204. For more information, click here