Primary Medium
Painting
Address
Brooklyn Art Studios (Leviton Buildings)276 Greenpoint Ave., Building 1, Studio #1310 & 1311
Brooklyn, 11222
Artist Statement
My practice is rooted in documentation. Observing, then reflecting the world around me. I initially created photographs then sound installations. Currently I make life-sized representational watercolors. My recent painting series is called Abundance. It celebrates New York’s plethora of flora and fauna along with pests and invasive species inhabiting our public parks, gardens, sidewalk cracks, and conversations. Weeds stretch to the sky and support pollinators. Insects glow like gems as they reproduce, destroying our produce. We celebrate and curse it in tandem. Our world is plentiful, yet this torrent is vulnerable. As with the natural order, Brooklynites do not pick our neighbors; we try to understand and adapt with them. As we contemplate the profusion of all that surrounds us, favorable and dreaded, do we ever stop to consider our part in all this? We label species as invasive, alien and non-native, but isn’t that what we are to them – not only to them, but also to this unceded territory? At its core, Abundance is a collection of paintings examining interspecies relationships that carefully observe hunter and prey / pest and prize and how subjective it feels. These paintings reveal creatures and vegetation on display, mid narrative, devoid of a backdrop. The watercolor stretches to embrace all its possibilities and nuances as a medium whilst referencing classic botanical studies. By peeling back the layers of coexistence, these paintings serve to convey gratitude, reverence, and attentiveness – to the land, the creatures, this place – through all its complexities.
Links
Website: http://www.allisonmaletz.comInstagram: @AllisonMaletz