Statement.

I create paintings, sculptures, and installations rooted in deep time, geology, history, and human perception. 

The paintings, a unique creation process, are made from the earth. 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 accumulate a document of their making. 

Once dry, they are never to be cleaned; their sedimentation continues indefinitely, representing a perpetual foundation of our shared physical existence.

Presented as tableaux, the sculptural installations counterpoint the paintings, engaging with art history and environmentalism through the use of found objects, paintings, sculptures, journal entries, and murals. 

Bio.

Growing up in the 90s on a dirt road on the banks of the St. Johns River in Green Cove Springs, Florida, I witnessed firsthand the rapid transformation of the landscape, from the woods where I played as a child to the encroaching suburban developments. This experience has led me to explore the complex relationship between human development and the environment, particularly within the historical context of Florida's changing ecosystems. I'm interested in how these changes reflect broader societal shifts and raise questions about our relationship with the natural world.

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.

My artistic journey began early. I experimented with materials at hand—clay, linseed oil for paint, beeswax, tree bark, and other found objects—and explored for hours in the woods behind my parents' house. I made many of my paints and materials to achieve specific textures, colors, and thicknesses while prioritizing the responsible use of natural resources.

I hold 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). I honed my printmaking skills under master printer John Hutcheson of Tyler Graphics, and also had the privilege of studying abroad in Italy, Croatia, and Slovenia.