Allison Svoboda - April Featured Artist

This body of work that I call ‘radical plein aire paintings’ are created on site, in collaboration with bodies of water that are under threat. I use the water from these sites, wind action, water movement, materials derived from on land such as sand, salt or plant material combined with simple water soluble pigments. Like the automatic paintings of the Dada movement, these are made from a ‘spirit hand’ where the elements take over the paintings and imbue them with the essence of the land. This alchemical reaction is always a revelation: is it cosmic or molecular? Does it represent destruction or growth? This paradox, that we both fear and worship water, is a seductive notion.