Artist of the Month
December 2015
Dean Allison
A sculptor who was introduced to glass in 1998 at Illinois State University, Dean Allison currently is a three-year resident artist at the Penland School of Crafts. Allison’s work is an exploration of portrait sculpture in glass. He celebrates intrinsic beauty through physical form and through the afflictions and joys of life’s many stages. Allison is represented by Echt Gallery, Chicago, Illinois.
Click on each photo to the right for a full picture.
The Decision; 22 x 16 x 16 inches; cast and blown glass
Grover; 16 x 19 x 10 inches; cast glass, blown glass
Wildflower; 18.75 x 15 x 13.5 inches; cast glass
Rose Colored Reign; 25 x 15 x 14 inches; cast glass
What would the earth look like if shadows disappeared?; 15 x 20 x 16 inches; cast glass
Pinky Promise; Pinky: 17 x 26 x 10 inches, Promise: 17 x 15 x 9 inches; cast glass
I am this, I am that; 50 x 30 x 9 inches; cast glass
Dean Allison
Artist Statement:
My work is an exploration of portrait sculpture in glass. I interpret the figure through living models that represent a connection to my life. I use a life casting process to capture physical details of an individual, and to capture a moment in time and an experience. The process of creating a life mask is intimate and establishes trust and closeness. The subsequent processes of making waxes, molds and glass of that person abstracts the identity slightly but freezes each subject in a state of being that is reflective, introspective and calm. I am inspired by the people and relationships that shape who we are, family stories and memories, feelings of admiration, love, fear and strength.
I want to celebrate intrinsic beauty through physical form and through the afflictions and joys of life’s many stages. The subjects in my portraits project a state of self-awareness while they also serve to reflect the perspective of the viewer and the projections we place on others. I appreciate that the figure in my work directly causes the need to question who the person is and why they matter.
About Dean Allison
Born in 1976 in Chicago, Illinois, Dean Allison is an artist who lives and works in Penland, North Carolina. He currently is a three-year resident artist at the Penland School of Crafts. Dean received his Master of Art, Visual Arts in Glass from The Australian National University in Canberra in 2010, and earned a B.S. in studio arts from Illinois State University in 2001. He was introduced to glass in 1998 while a student at I.S.U.
Dean has studied and/or worked at The Northlands Creative Glass Center in Scotland, The Canberra Glass Works in Australia, Chicago Hot Glass, Pilchuck Glass School, The Studio at The Corning Museum of Glass, Pittsburgh Glass Center, the University of Wolverhampton in England, and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Dean was recognized as a 2013 Rising Star from the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass and the Creative Glass Center of America. Recent exhibitions include 50 by 50 at The Muskegon Museum of Art and he will be in an exhibition in 2016 at The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.
Acknowledgment of Gallery:
We are grateful to Echt Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, for providing the Artist of the Month.
The Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to further the development and appreciation of art made from glass.
The Alliance informs collectors, critics and curators by encouraging and supporting museum exhibitions, university glass departments and specialized teaching programs, regional collector groups, visits to private collections, and public seminars.
