Alison’s life and art are inspired by a continual exploration of what it is to be human and an ongoing practice of delving into the paradox of the both relentlessly solitary and utterly communal nature of the human condition.
Born in the bayous of Southeast Texas and raised in the Southern Baptist Church, Alison went on to live, study and work in 5 continents before age 30. Along the way, she received her AB degree from Harvard College in Anthropology of Religion, where she first got a taste of the deliciousness of living in the questions, the flavor of which has propelled her since.
Through her art, Alison brings the solitary experience into the communal sphere and explores the dialectic between the mundane and the sacred ritual. She walks the line between absurd and earnest, deconstructing familiar forms and reconstructing them in ways that invite participants to join her in reimagining the past, imagining the future, and noticing what it feels like to be a living, dying, glorious speck of stardust on a ball of beautiful matter hurdling through space.
Despite her swampy origins, she has spent much of the last few years in the tree-covered high mountains, where she has been lucky to learn from the stillness and aliveness of these wise teachers. But there is a piece of her heart that will always be drawn to the loud, bright skies of a Texas thunderstorm, and she continues to draw inspiration from the culinary and hospitality traditions of her Southern roots in both her art practice and her love of cooking.