"Assembling", painting on silk by Allison Svoboda
In my artwork I use simple materials; ink and paper or silk. The paper pieces are collaged into large scale works with lots of texture. I first create 100's of smaller paintings and then work into the composition through collage. When I work on silk, I manipulate the surface with stitching.
I have shown in many galleries throughout Chicago and the Midwest such as ARC, Womanmade, Coalition Gallery, Artropolis and the Art Prize. I am represented by Soho Myriad out of Los Angeles, London and Atlanta. My pieces are in collections though out the United States, Europe and Israel.
Artist's Statement: There is an inherent ethereal quality working on paper, especially rice paper. It’s unpredictable nature; fragile yet resilient lends an intuitive nature to my work. Examining our natural world, I look at the fractals in a leaf’s structure to the branching of a tree in the dead of winter.
Other influences in my work come from the ethnographic textiles of Asia. Their simple geometric shapes are often a meditation on nature. Having spent many years in Asia working with remote tribes as an ethnographic art dealer, I am forever inspired by the artisan’s traditions. For example, I worked with ikat weavers in Sumba for several years; much of their imagery such as the fertility symbol, the mamuli is derived directly from nature.
The rhythm, symmetry and repetition of the patterns in nature and ethnographic images illustrate the lifecycle renewing itself. Finding these patterns and closely examining them inspires my work.
Other influences in my work come from the ethnographic textiles of Asia. Their simple geometric shapes are often a meditation on nature. Having spent many years in Asia working with remote tribes as an ethnographic art dealer, I am forever inspired by the artisan’s traditions. For example, I worked with ikat weavers in Sumba for several years; much of their imagery such as the fertility symbol, the mamuli is derived directly from nature.
The rhythm, symmetry and repetition of the patterns in nature and ethnographic images illustrate the lifecycle renewing itself. Finding these patterns and closely examining them inspires my work.
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Memberships:
Chicago Artist Coalition
Soho Myriad
George Lowel
Blog: Allison Svoboda
Blog: Allison Svoboda
Languages spoken: English, French
"Branching", painting on silk by Allison Svoboda
Tags: ink, paper, stitched, wax, black and white, botanical, abstract, Asian, landscape, silk
Allison and I have been friends for a long, long time now. In 2007, I had the opportunity to work on a collaborative project with her: http://fiberfocus.blogspot.com/2008/06/inter-american-quilt-project-by-allison.html
ReplyDeleteWe made three queen size panels for a bi-lingual school in Chicago. She painted the world on silk, kids made collages that were transferred and appliqued on to the piece and I did the quilting and assembly.
It was one of the most challenging pieces I ever did and I loved working out the process for it with her. She has a keen mind and her work is truly beautiful!