ALG Collective

“To The Surface III” by Lisa Moriarty.

This piece is a soft place to land and let the eyes wander across the surface. The shapes, colors, translucency and opacity have been formed gradually, layer by hand-crafted layer. Patterns can be found in the variability, just like when gazing up at the clouds or watching the surface of the water. It brings nature’s meditativeness to the gallery and, if you choose, your home.

Lisa shares what inspires her to create such peaceful pieces in the following quote.

“What draws me into the studio is often a combination of color, light, memory, and a quiet internal pull toward making. Sometimes it begins with noticing how light moves through something translucent, how shadows soften an edge, or how one color shifts when layered against another. At other times, it begins more emotionally, a need to slow down, organize my thoughts, or respond to a feeling that is difficult to put into words.”

Experience “To The Surface III” at ALG Fine Art now, as part of “Breathing Space,” the solo art show by Lisa Moriarty ().

Drop in Wednesday to Saturday between 11 am and 4 pm or book a personalised shopping experience with our Gallery Manager, Skylar Craver. All artwork is also available to collect online. (Links in bio)

“To The Surface II” by Lisa Moriarty.

The next in this series of 8x8” encaustic on wood panel pieces, in “To The Surface II” Lisa has brought together a colour palette of blues. There are dark blues like deep water or the night sky. There are bright blues like the sky on a sunny day. There’s a hint of turquoise blue like the light reflecting on the sea.

Lisa’s use of blue is an artistic choice as she explains in this quote.

“Color is central, especially blue, which appears often because of its connection to memory and place. For me, blue carries calm, safety, and nostalgia, rooted in long-standing impressions of the California coast, the openness of shoreline, water, horizon, and coastal light.

“The work is less about describing a specific landscape and more about translating that sense of rhythm, suspension, breath, and slow accumulation through material.”

Experience “To The Surface II” at ALG Fine Art now, as part of “Breathing Space,” the solo art show by Lisa Moriarty ().

Drop in Wednesday to Saturday between 11 am and 4 pm or book a personalised shopping experience with our Gallery Manager, Skylar Craver. All artwork is also available to collect online. (Links in bio)

“Fade at the Orchard’s Edge” by Lisa Moriarty.

One of Lisa’s salvaged wood pieces, this is a masterclass in the use of texture. In “Fade at the Orchard’s Edge,” we can see the raw texture of the wood, transporting us to the earthy atmosphere of an orchard. On the other side, we have layered encaustic wax that ripples and waves like water. Then, in the middle, marrying the two is white encaustic wax which enhances the pattern of the wood beneath, thick and foamy like the peaks of waves.

It’s rich visual storytelling that holds the viewer's attention as we explore the depth and dimension.

Lisa tells us about the story behind this series in her artist statement.

“These works are built from salvaged orchard wood gathered in the region now known as Silicon Valley, once called the Valley of Heart’s Delight. The wood bears the weight of time, weathered, worn, and marked by a landscape that has largely vanished.

Over these surfaces, encaustic wax is layered in quiet accretions, a process that echoes the slow gathering of salt, sand, and memory along the California coast. Each layer settles like a tide, building a surface that is both luminous and obscured, holding traces of what came before.

The work moves between two geographies: orchard and ocean, cultivation and erosion. In their meeting, the pieces become vessels of remembrance, where land, labor, and water converge, and where the past continues to surface through material.”

Experience “Fade at the Orchard’s Edge” at ALG Fine Art now, as part of “Breathing Space,” the solo art show by Lisa Moriarty ().

Drop in Wednesday to Saturday between 11 am and 4 pm or book a personalised shopping experience with our Gallery Manager, Skylar Craver. All artwork is also available to collect online. (Links in bio)

“Breakers” by Lisa Moriarty.

Pause, breathe and rest your eyes on the soft waves of “Breakers.” Lisa has used encaustic-painted fabric carefully hand-assembled on a wood panel to create a welcoming landscape. The rhythm and flow mirror the waves of the ocean, lulling us into peacefulness.

Lisa shares more about the power of this piece in her artist statement.

"Constructed from larger pieces of fabric painted with encaustic, this work is shaped, formed, and layered onto a wood panel to create a richly textured surface. The fabric remains visible in its dimensionality, with each layer contributing to a sense of movement and depth.

The overlapping pieces emphasize texture, evoking the irregular, shifting surface of choppy seawater. Variations in tone, deep indigo, all white, and translucent passages of lighter blue, suggest the changing currents and the way light moves through water.

Together, these elements create a dynamic interplay between structure and fluidity, capturing the ever-changing nature of the sea."

Experience “Breakers” at ALG Fine Art now, as part of “Breathing Space,” the solo art show by Lisa Moriarty ().

Drop in Wednesday to Saturday between 11 am and 4 pm or book a personalised shopping experience with our Gallery Manager, Skylar Craver. All artwork is also available to collect online. (Links in bio)