title: Opening
artist: Allison Wade
curated by: Jaclyn Mednicov
materials: Hand-dyed fabric, fabric, paint
dimensions: 26 x 34 inches
location: 5615 N. Glenwood Ave Chicago, IL 60640
This is the first piece I completed after going back to the studio in early June. There’s definitely a relationship to a window in the composition--a looking out or a looking in, either literally or figuratively--what we’ve all been tasked with doing over these past four months. Turns out the piece is exactly the width of Jaclyn’s window. Even more exciting to me is the fact that dyed fabric matches the color of the tiling under the window.
Allison Wade is a Chicago-based visual artist and educator who loves to play with material and form, often arriving at arrangements that seem elegant and awkward at the same time. She teaches sculpture and drawing at Northwestern University. Follow her on Instagram:@allisonlwade1
More on Allison Wade's practice
My process is typically cyclical, starting with a period of binge drawing. I often move next to collaged fabric pieces before working my way to three-dimensional objects. While not plans or blueprints, the drawings and collages typically inform a series of subsequent three-dimensional work. I think through structural logic, spatial relationships, composition, and color with these initial wall-bound pieces.
As I move to the sculptural, I adopt a variety of processes to create a stockpile of components. Glazed ceramics, hand-dyed fabrics, woven structures, constructed wood and modified steel parts—these pieces offer structural and formal characteristics that I exploit when assembling them into three dimensional objects. There’s a strong focus on where and how elements meet.
Although not overtly evident, an ongoing interest in language structures informs my work. I arrange objects grammatically, manipulating them into highly edited sentences or paragraphs. Each element contributes to the overall syntax, and interpretation often hinges on a seemingly insignificant conjunction. Simultaneously aware of the specific relationships of the parts and the coherence of the whole, the viewer senses an idiomatic approach to making that reveals its own intuitive logic while inviting interpretation.