SAMUEL ALLISON
The constant in my artwork is a search for nature’s hidden blueprint. Whether drawing a portrait or measuring out a geometric mandala, I get in touch with archetypal patterns, the harmony behind surfaces we take for granted.
My projects toggle between drawing, photography, painting, and sculpture. Much of my studio time goes into tinkering with new ways to combine materials and processes. As much as I strive for novelty, I gravitate towards doing things the old fashioned way, having trained at several traditional art academies.
For my current project, a yearlong portrait of a fellow artist, I’ve honed a technique for imbedding graphite drawings, photographic prints, and sculptures in encaustic. This is a medium of beeswax hardened by damar tree resin. Encaustic is as close as we can get to permanence. It goes all the way back to strikingly lifelike portraits from ancient Egypt. The wax forms a translucent skin with a life of its own, gives a subtle golden tint to the color palette, and even has a lingering scent of honey.
Some of the was surfaces I paint with pigmented shellac, a flammable polish. Then I let loose with a blowtorch. The flame spare certain areas and melts others into abstraction. I enjoy this balance of control and chaos - meticulously shaping the figurative passages, then inviting fire to make the final outcome a surprise.
My projects toggle between drawing, photography, painting, and sculpture. Much of my studio time goes into tinkering with new ways to combine materials and processes. As much as I strive for novelty, I gravitate towards doing things the old fashioned way, having trained at several traditional art academies.
For my current project, a yearlong portrait of a fellow artist, I’ve honed a technique for imbedding graphite drawings, photographic prints, and sculptures in encaustic. This is a medium of beeswax hardened by damar tree resin. Encaustic is as close as we can get to permanence. It goes all the way back to strikingly lifelike portraits from ancient Egypt. The wax forms a translucent skin with a life of its own, gives a subtle golden tint to the color palette, and even has a lingering scent of honey.
Some of the was surfaces I paint with pigmented shellac, a flammable polish. Then I let loose with a blowtorch. The flame spare certain areas and melts others into abstraction. I enjoy this balance of control and chaos - meticulously shaping the figurative passages, then inviting fire to make the final outcome a surprise.
