Today we’d like to introduce you to Alli Anderson.
Alli, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I’ve always been into making art even as a young child even though I never went to museums as a child because I grew up with a single mother and she was really focused with making me strong in other ways. In high school, I was obsessed with collaging. It wasn’t until I got into CSULB where I fell in love with everything art, especially with painting. I think a big part of why I fell in love with painting was because my painting professors were these strong female artists that’s were extremely vocal about feminism and everything in between. I graduated CSULB in 2014 with my BFA and that same year I was recognized in “New American Paintings” as editor’s choice. Early 2015, I was recognized as a Young Emerging Artist by the VSA Program through the John F. Kennedy Center of Performing Arts which was a huge honor for me. Then in the summer of 2015, I was awarded a residency at Tyler School of Art for their summer painting and sculpture. Ever since then I’ve been making new work in my studio at home. I’ve been really pushing myself to explore and make work that isn’t necessary pretty because I do not want my work all to look the same. I’m still a young artist, so I think it is important to progress and not get stuck in old ways that I’m burning out on the canvas.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I primarily make large oil paintings and drawings that incorporate collage. Gathering text from personal journals, books, and films, I try to illustrate the psychological processes of a young adult female. I focus on thoughts and fears of the female body and societal pressures because I’ve battled eating disorders my whole life. Even though I have learned through therapy not to give in to these thoughts, they linger in my head to cause confusion. This confusion informs the hazy palette that creates the overall mood of the painting. I establish the structure of a painting with text or feminine objects, which I then conceal under veils of color, leaving the viewer atmospherically surrounded by the ideas. I try to the viewer to contemplate what the painting is trying to say over time. Lately, my work has been inspired by the MeToo and Time’s Up movement because like many other women out there, I too have been sexually harassed or been put down because of my gender.
What do you know now that you wished you had learned earlier?
Being an artist is a marathon, not a sprint.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
People can see my art at my website, alliandersone.com or on my Instagram at Alexanderson. If they are interested in showing or purchasing my work, you can get in touch with me via email, [email protected] or DM on Instagram.
Contact Info:
- Website: alliandersone.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: alliandersonE
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