I create paintings, sculptures, and installations rooted in deep time, geology, history, and human perception.
Paintings are made from the earth itself. Collected soils are slaked, ground by hand through a laborious process, and mixed with oils and mediums to create paints applied to linen, panels, or pit-fired ceramic tablets. While still wet they are taken on subsequent hikes; the bruises and scratches they accumulate a document of their making.
Once dry they are never to be cleaned; their sedimentation continuing indefinitely they are to represent a foundation of our shared physical existence.
Presented as tableaux, the sculptural installations offer a counterpoint to the paintings, exploring art history and environmentalism through found objects, paintings, sculptures, journal entries, and murals.
Bio.
Allen (B. Florida 1993; lives and works in New York) creates paintings, sculptures, and installations exploring the artist’s autobiography and identity issues. He started making artwork in rural Northeast Florida that addresses deep time and environmentalism; themes that permeate his work.
His artistic journey began early: experimenting with materials at hand — clay, linseed oil for paint, beeswax, tree bark, and other found objects. He makes many of his paints and materials to achieve specific textures, colors, and thicknesses while prioritizing the responsible use of natural resources.
Allen holds a master’s degree in Fine Art from Pratt Institute (2019) and a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art and Art History from the University of North Florida (2017). He honed his printmaking skills under master printer John Hutcheson of Tyler Graphics. He also had the privilege of studying abroad in Italy, Croatia, and Slovenia.
