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Allyson Austin | |||
Allyson Austin |
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Enquire about Allyson Austin As Allyson Austin's work develops and unfolds she has become more focused on the qualities of surface. Surface is a lovely thing and building it up during the making process is a joy. Her techniques and colours have been inspired by the handmade wallpapers of Cole & Son, and the gorgeously simple covers of 1950's paperbacks. Alongside her love of surface is the weaving of narrative into the work. Currently Allison Austin's narrative concerns the abandoned and derelict houses of North Dakota, often referred to as ‘See-through Houses'. |
ALLYSON AUSTIN BIOGRAPHY
These images are representative of the artist's work and may no longer be available. Please contact the gallery for further information. BORN 1968 St Helens EDUCATION 1985 –87 St. Helens College of Art and Design, Arts Foundation Course. 1987 –90 Leicester Polytechnic, BA Fine Art Painting and Printmaking. 1990 –91 Leicester Polytechnic, P.G.C.E. Art Education. 1999- 01 MA Printmaking, Cheltenham College of Art & Design EXHIBITIONS 2010 AAF Bristol, AAF Battersea, London 1999 Solo Exhibition, The Wiseman Gallery, Oxford. 1999 Christmas Exhibition, The Wiseman Gallery, Oxford 2000 Solo Exhibition, First Floor Galleries, The Wiseman Gallery 2000 The Affordable Art Fair, London, The Wiseman Gallery 2001 The Affordable Art Fair, West, The Wiseman Gallery 2001 The Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London 2001 The Wiseman Gallery Christmas Exhibition 2002 Art on Paper Fair, Royal College of Art 2002 Solo Exhibition of New Works, The Wiseman Gallery 2002 The Affordable Art Fair, Autumn, London 2003 Art on Paper Fair, Royal College of Art 2003 The Affordable Art Fair, Autumn, London 2004 ‘Ad Infinitum' with Kathryn Thomas, Sarah Wiseman Gallery 2004 The Affordable Art Fair, Autumn, London 2005 Art on Paper Fair, Royal College of Art, London 2005 Linacre College, Oxford 2005 Said Business School, Oxford 2005 Affordable Art Fair, Autumn, London 2005 Sarah Wiseman Gallery, Christmas Collection AWARDS 1987 Wooton Painting Prize STATEMENT As my work develops and unfolds I have become more focused on the qualities of surface. Surface is a lovely thing and building it up during the making process is a joy. My techniques and colours have been inspired by the handmade wallpapers of Cole & Son, and the gorgeously simple covers of 1950's paperbacks.I work with both transparent and opaque colours. Transparency allows layers to be built up that can be seen through. I use opaque colours to block parts of layers to provide a contrast and also to increase the depth of the pictorial plane.
Alongside my love of surface is the weaving of narrative in my work. Currently my narrative concerns the abandoned and derelict houses of North Dakota, often referred to as ‘See-through Houses'. Built by the Homesteaders in the late 19th century and thereafter, many of the towns and houses on the isolated and semi-arid land have been left to fall, with the furniture and possessions still in them. My interest in these houses is not necessarily the objects that have been left, but the buildings themselves. Walls of disintegrating lat and plaster, remnants of wallpaper, broken tiles, traces of colour where all once choices made by the people who lived there, ordinary things made extraordinary by the lack of the people themselves.
Therefore I work with household paint, varnishes and wood stains. I use embossing techniques to raise areas of the paper and electric sanders to remove layers of paint and varnish.
Some of the titles are taken from the names of the people who lived there.
My current work is based on the abandoned homestead towns of North Dakota, involving structures that are in disrepair, and at various stages of ruin. This choice of subject matter has heavily influenced my approach to the materials I use. In looking for a particular quality of surface which reflects the subject, I have abandoned artist's quality paints and inks in favour of recycled materials. My work now is produced using left-over household paints and varnishes, including old wood stain and wood preservers. I work on paper, on the back or on top of old, abandoned pieces of my own work, and sometimes allow the images below to be visible through the new layers. I use varying sizes of hand-held electric sanding machines and sandpaper as drawing tools to take the layers of paint away in order to build surfaces. Using these materials tests creativity, and there remains something very simple, honest and real in creating something new from what is to hand. It is this honesty and simplicity which is satisfying, and for me, where the pleasure lies in being creative.
The Way You Were, Disappearing World, Kitchenette Printmaking techniques used: Monoytpe, Contact printing, Off-set printing, frottage (rubbing), Blind printing, Block printing.
My interest in the interiors of the Homesteader's houses has led to an exploration into the disappeared interiors of houses in our own history.
‘The Way You Were', ‘Kitchenette' and ‘Disappearing World' are a reflection on interiors from the 50's through to the 70's, patterns and textures associated with grandmothers and aunts. The over-ornamentation and miss-match of patterns and textures within broken tiles, carpets, wallpapers and rugs provide opportunity to juxtapose complementary colours and textures in kitsch fashion, evoking memories of bottle-green draylon, heavy ochre velvet, tough, worn linoleum squares, yellowed with age and textured wallpaper. Also disappearing words such as ‘anaglypta', ‘antimacassar' and ‘kitchenette' help understand the origins of these images.
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Allyson Austin - Hide and Seek
Allyson Austin - Blot
Allyson Austin - Champion