– Destiny Allison
I begin each piece with a question, usually related to human roles or relationships. I examine myths, symbols, and the origins of how we define ourselves. My work takes me deep into personal experience as I try to understand events in my life. It requires me to be academic. I study history, philosophy, religion and the origin of words to understand the things that have shaped me. Art is not merely a reflection of what we see in the world.
For me, art is a process of discovery where the work teaches me as much as I shape it. If a topic is worthy as a subject, it creates a deep emotional response in me. I explore what I do not know, seeking to give form and voice to the thing in each of us that is silent and tantric. Sculpting gave me a voice, a way to understand emotional and intellectual responses to experience and relate my discoveries to the world at large.
But 32 years doing intense physical labor — cutting, bending, welding and grinding — takes a toll. Aches and pains became injuries and I knew I had to find a new way to delve deep into humanity’s mysteries.
I began painting with excitement and trepidation. I didn’t understand how to express in two dimensions or in color. At first I dabbled. My brushstrokes were precious. Colors were uniform. Patterns were clear. And I wanted to throw the works against a wall. Frustration led to fury. Fury led to release and, over time, I learned. To me, sculpture is poetry. Paintings are symphonies.
My color fields are nature inspired, full patterned, and multi-layered. The palettes are evocative. Forms emerge and disappear, almost recognizable, but not quite. Like Rothko and Pollack (heroes of mine) I encourage viewers to enter a state of mind, to stop and fully immerse themselves in something they don’t consciously understand but feel on an intuitive level. In this meditative state, viewers (and myself as the artist), sit inside a space that’s all consuming, deeply inspiring, and full of beauty.
As I explore relationships, nature, and the human experience, I hope viewers discover curiosity, possibility and beauty in themselves.
I often refer to my studio as my dungeon. I feel like the Greek god, Hephaestus, who was relegated to the bottom of a volcano after he was horribly deformed. From his smoking, dirty pit he was able to create the most beautiful art. Many believed his deformity enabled him to see beauty more fully. I take his deformity as a metaphor for the human condition, which is mine, and his stature as a god as a metaphor for divine intervention, for which I hope.
