Artist's Statement

My multi-layered and elaborate compositions create imagined environments using various forms. The improvisational quality of my painting stems from my response to organic compounds found in natural environments. These forms are derived from plants mined from forested, uncultivated areas of the forest floor. The gestural shapes and lush color promote analysis over time in these richly dense compositions. The work persuades the viewer to self-reflect in a time of isolation. As I work, I let the media lead, and then I respond. As I add paint, I make choices on where to go or what to do next. Almost like terraforming. I start to build these layers into complex atmospheres that hold pockets for the viewer to explore. For me, painting is a process of letting go and escaping. These spaces become sacred because of their intimacy.

Each mark and layer of color is a reaction to the world around me. Adding, subtracting, covering, revealing, the process is one of discovery. In these large paintings, which are oil on panel, light comes from the background to promote a sense of journey. The viewer must find their way through the dark foreground to get to the light, much like daily life. Depression has been a big obstacle in my own life, and painting has always been the main method of therapy for me. By creating spaces that promote juxtaposition of light and dark, it gives me a place to explore and process my thoughts and provides reprieve from daily struggles. These worlds of light and dark that I create are intended to speak to the journey of their own making and the power and mystery of nature.

View Allison's discussion of her work here.

 

Artist's Background

Allison Olsen was born in Manhattan, Kansas in 1996. Being surrounded by the Flint Hills her entire life has opened her eyes to many different species of plants. The natural forms made by native prairie life are what initially inspired her abstract compositions. Recently she has been studying plant forms from north western areas of the United States and rainforest climates such as the Amazon.

She is a graduate from Kansas State University where she studied fine art with a concentration in painting. She served as the Vice President of the Painting Society and her work has been in many juried exhibitions.. Allison has also received awards and scholarships for her art such as the Jim Hagan Memorial Art Fund for Art Majors, Kansas State University Art Department Student Scholarship, and Honorable Mention in the 7th Annual University Life Café Juried Exhibition at Kansas State University.

Allison grew up traveling every summer with her family to places including, but not limited to, Yellowstone National Park, the Redwoods of California, and Hilton Head, South Carolina. In these unique places, she could experience the beauty and wonder of nature first hand. Each place offered new types of plants and wildlife, whether it be forest or sea life. Studying and recording different forms and elements from nature is what fuels her work today.

More information is available at AllisonBowman.com.