Previous Exhibition:
Allison Newsome Exhibition Installation at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts | Logan Gallery
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Allison Newsome Exhibition Installation at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts | Logan Gallery
"There has been a constant exploration of figurative work throughout history," Newsome says. "While the statuesque tropes seem outdated, the contextual application of figuration remains a viable image for contemporary art. My current work provides an avenue into figuration with embedded abstraction, and the opportunity to create new works inspired by ancient forms and vessels. The ceramic vocabulary sits squarely on the anthropomorphic descriptions of vessels having feet, lips, shoulders, as well as the fact that we work with a clay body."
Allison Newsome works in a distinctive style to create intricate ceramic and bronze sculptures that explore "the wilderness and garden as a state of mind." Her work addresses issues of the environment and human interaction as our landscape and human psyche have changed from the wilderness to the agrarian, into the industrial and post industrial. While the works explore fundamental, utilitarian, methods implemented on land and water, the content can easily be driven by the intention of the viewer.
The works investigate the legacy of the figure in clay, ceramics as expedited transport and commerce tool, and narrative traditions. Her palette ranges from earth tones to vibrant colors and texture plays an important role in her work. Newsome has found inspiration on her island home on Prudence Island, in the Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Often referred to as a "Plein Air Sculptor," she is often seen sketching with wet clay on site, outdoors. These sketches in clay are often left to return to the environment.
Watch Video of Allison Newsome at Work
Newsome's work has been collected and exhibited by the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, the Mobile Museum of Art, the Fuller Craft Museum, and the Newport Art Museum. She has been included in numerous international group exhibitions in China, France, and Mexico.
Newsome was the first artist-in-residence at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, exhibits regularly, and presents annual workshops. Her work at the Center and her international reputation are closely aligned. Ojai Harvest, a work she created for a 2008 exhibition at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, led to a commissioned work for a garden in Toulouse, France. While creating the bronze at the Strassacker Fonderie de Bronze, in Heimsbrun, France, the work so impressed visiting curator Donato Diez of the Society National Beaux Artes that he invited her to exhibit it at the Carrousel du Louvre in 2011.
Works from Post-Neolithic Figurines & The Anthropomorphic Vessel will likely find homes in private and museum collections and lead to other commissions. Don't miss this opportunity to view Allison Newsome's recent work, inspired by and exhibited in Ojai.
The Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts is Open to the Public
Fri, Sat, & Sun 11:00 am - 5:00 pm.
8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Road, Ojai, CA 93023
805.646.3381
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