Alicia Sterling Beach created her intersecting plane geometrics as part of a larger investigation into symmetry at her downtown Los Angeles studio in 2008. These works evolved from earlier studies exploring bilateral balance and perceptual interplay, including large wooden-slat Op Art constructions, two-handed drawings, and monumental Rorschach paintings on paper. These explorations were featured in significant solo exhibitions at Suzanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects (2002), Rosamund Felsen Gallery (2003), Phoenix Art Museum (2004), and Armory Center for the Arts (2008).
Her fascination with symmetry is both formal and deeply personal. A childhood accident left her with a leg-length discrepancy that later resulted in severe physical complications. Through her artistic practice, Beach began to understand symmetry not only as an aesthetic principle, but as a pathway toward physical awareness and healing. The intersecting plane paintings reflect this vision: distorted squares turned into diamond-like forms rotate along a cross-axis, engaging in a mirrored, interwoven dance. Divided into luminous quadrants of light color, the planes dissolve into translucent, stained-glass-like fields that reduce objecthood into light, perception, and optical vibration.
This dialogue between material form and spiritual transcendence continues throughout her body of work. Influenced by sacred geometry and the belief that we are spiritual beings navigating a physical experience, Beach’s paintings offer both visual dynamism and contemplative elevation. The sacred and the beautiful serve as counterbalance to the realities of physical pain and recovery from early trauma.
In 2016, Beach began working with ArtLifting, a national B-Corp that exclusively represents artists living with disabilities through corporate licensing partnerships and sales. For ArtLifting, she produced additional sacred geometry works on canvas, expanding her investigation of symmetry into new contexts and audiences.
Beach received her MFA from the University of California, Irvine (1994) and her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (1991). She was awarded the Yale University Summer at Norfolk Painting Award (1990), and also studied at Wellesley College and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. Her academic foundation informs her rigorous formal investigations, while her lived experience lends emotional resonance to her practice.
Recent solo exhibitions include Lilies and Friends at SPARC Centre Gallery, South Pasadena (2025); a solo exhibition at Jancar Gallery, Chinatown, Los Angeles (2008); and Meditations at the Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena (2008). Her work and story have been featured in interviews and articles by the South Pasadena Review, Felix Magazine, and HuffPost (Arts & Culture, U.S. Edition).
Beach is especially pleased to present these works with Sector Seven Contemporary Art Gallery at Jones Coffee Roasters in Pasadena. The setting resonates deeply with her interdisciplinary sensibility, as she is also an accomplished jazz singer. The presence of live jazz in the space echoes the rhythmic interplay, improvisation, and harmonic balance that inform her visual compositions.
