Barbara Fisher

I have been holed up in my Warehouse Studios space for eleven years, which some say qualifies me as a River District pioneer.  In any case, I have witnessed an incredible blossoming of the River Arts District. The Studio Stroll used to be quite a casual affair… a handful of artists pulled together a one-day open studio event, publicized only by some xeroxed flyers and a few random posters. We’ve come a long way.

Barbara Fisher
Warehouse Studios
170 Lyman St
Asheville, NC 28801
828.230.4177
Barbara.fisher100@gmail.com
www.barbarafisher.com
www.barbarafisherstudio.blogspot.com
www.echoasheville.com

I survived the “Great Flood of 2004” – these pictures were taken from the second floor of Warehouse Studios. That little half flooded building is now 12 Bones.

I have been painting for 25 years.  For the past ten years, most of my work was mixed media - layered with paper and acrylic texturing and finished in oil paint.  The paintings were either in a grid space or in an imaginary landscape.

Make a Joyful Noise

Balance of Nature

Outsider

Protect Me

Last year, I shifted my palette toward much more muted colors, and the images were painted almost entirely in black.

Forgotten Signs

Let Your Mind Wander

Look Inside

Stand Up and Be Counted

Recently my work has taken off into a completely new direction.  I’m not quite sure what happened, but the result is a whole new body of work.  As one friend said, it’s as if my signs and icons escaped from the grid and are free floating in an ethereal space.   My intuitive approach and long time interest in the idea of the Collective Unconscious can be seen in the resulting “primordial soup”, which invites the viewer to contemplate the spaces in between.

Don't Look Back

Loosely Speaking

Not Out of the Question

Sea Change

Unearthing

Future Study

Big Bang

Biographical Information:  Fisher was born in New York City, educated in Colorado and California, and lived for many years on the West coast before settling in Asheville, North Carolina in 1998.   Her work has been exhibited in solo shows throughout the country, including the de Saisset Museum (CA), Bank of America World Headquarters (CA), The National Institutes of Health (MD) and The Washington Cancer Center (DC) as well as in many galleries.  Her paintings have hung in group shows at the Asheville Art Museum (NC), the Alexandria Museum of Art (LA), the Sun City Museum of Art (AZ) and the Chicago Cultural Center (IL). Fisher has received numerous grants and residencies including the Mortimer Fleishhacker Foundation Grant (CA),  Asheville Arts Council Project Grant (NC), the Ucross Foundation (WY), and the Ragdale Foundation.  Her work can be found in the collections of Capital One (VA), Western NC University Art Museum (NC), the Asheville Art Museum (NC), First Charter Bank (NC), Bank of America (CA), National Institutes of Health (MD) and the University of NC Hospitals (NC). www.barbarafisher.com