February 3 to March 17, 2022
K. Imperial Fine Art is excited to present Wave to Wave, a solo exhibition of new work by Allison Svoboda. Her ethereal, meditative, and at times even ominous, creations find balance on the edge between deliberate and intuitive mark making. Svoboda’s practice summons the will of nature and elements to regenerate, activate, and heal. The exhibition is on view at the gallery in San Francisco at 49 Geary Street, Suite 525. The public is invited to meet artist Allison Svoboda at the opening reception on Saturday, February 5, from 3pm to 5pm.
Allison Svoboda, Rolling Like Water 6, 2021
Watercolor, 9 x 9 inches
For Svoboda, art is meditation, obsessive mark making is therapy, and nature is 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.”
Allison Svoboda, Mandala Verdant 2, 2021 Watercolor sumi-e ink on mulberry paper, 18 x 18 inches
Allison Svoboda, Mandala Verdant 1, 2021
Watercolor sumi-e ink on mulberry paper, 18 x 18 inches
The title of the show, Wave to Wave, is derived from the Buddhist aphorism, “Leaping from wave to wave in search of water” which brings to light the marked shift we have collectively experienced the last few years, forced to slow down and take in the world right in front of us. For the past 20 lunar cycles Svoboda has painted on the full moon, both marking time and honoring its phases. She creates outside in the elements using the action of waves, water, salt, and sand, reveling in the alchemical magic that always occurs. Is it cosmic or is it molecular? Does it represent destruction or regrowth? For Svoboda, the paradox that we both fear and worship water is a seductive notion.
Allison Svoboda
Allison Svoboda lives and works in Chicago where she was recently commissioned to create a steel sculpture for North Center Plaza. In 2015 Svoboda received a Hemera fellowship, giving her the opportunity to study Zen and calligraphy in Japan. She has been chosen for residencies at Ragdale in Illinois, Toffia 33 in Italy, and Fiskars Village in Finland. Her work can be found in collections such as Four Seasons in San Francisco, Intercontinental in Guatemala, and Ritz Carlton in Abu Dhabi among others.
Wave to Wave is Allison Svoboda’s first solo exhibition at K. Imperial Fine Art.
The gallery is open by appointment only. For more information or to make an appointment please contact kimperialfineart@me.
