ALLISON SVOBODA

Artist Biography

Allison Svoboda (b. 1964, Illinois) finds the edge between intuitive and deliberate mark making, creating works that are both large-scale yet ethereal. Her collage works are created from layering intricate brush stokes using ink to form sculptural works on paper. Svoboda’s paintings are based on fractal geometry, as well as the power of nature, translating into installations on materials such as metal, glass and cut paper.

Svoboda received the Hemera fellowship in 2015 to study Zen Buddhism in Japan, which further influences her work. Her sculpture commissions include an interactive steel sculpture, “Helical Om,” for the City of Chicago in 2018, a multi layered aluminum structure, “Helix Labyrinth,” for the Carnegie Art Center Sculpture Biennial, New Albany, Indiana, and a hand cut tyvek installation, “Vortices,” in Nashville Airport’s terminal C skylight in 2017. In addition, her wall mounted sculptural mandalas have been commissioned for numerous commercial and residential installations throughout the world including Hilton, Barbados, London House, Chicago, Ritz Carlton, Abu Dhabi, and Intercontinental, Guatemala City. Svoboda has also been selected as artist in residence for Peace Hotel in Shanghai, China for 2021.

Artist Statement

Art is my meditation, obsessive mark-making my therapy, and nature my inspiration.  The cycle of life and death, fractals found in nature; from microscopic to galactic are constant influences.  Slowing down, deeply looking at nature, watching the cycle of life, I allow the painting practice to become an intuitive response to life.  In the resulting image, smaller worlds emerge within the alchemy of the water, pigment, and elements.  I think of these works as a meditation on the profound power and stillness in our natural world.
 
Chicago-based artist, Allison Svoboda, works through multiple disciplines including painting, sculpture, and installations. Svoboda’s practice finds the edge between intuitive and deliberate mark-making, creating work that is both ethereal and ominous. Her practice summons the will of nature and elements to regenerate, activate, and heal despite the damaged state of our environment. These paintings based on fractal geometry are also translated into large-scale works on metal,  glass, and cut paper. She received the Hemera fellowship to study Zen and calligraphy in Japan which further influences her work. Allison lives in Chicago where the city recently commissioned her to create a steel sculpture for North Center Plaza.  She has been chosen for a residencies at Ragdale, Lyesloth-Basel, Switzerland, Toffia 33 in Italy, and Fiskar’s Village in Finland.  Her work can be found in corporate collections and hotels such as Four Seasons, San Francisco, Intercontinental in Guatemala, and Ritz Carlton in Abu Dhabi.   
 
 

 

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