Valley House Opening Reception: ALLISON GILDERSLEEVE: High Frequency
April 28 – June 2, 2018
Artist Talk: Saturday, April 28, 11:00am
Behind my canvases, collages, and drawings lies a singular proposition: places are not inert; they are repositories for all that passes through them. My work is an inquiry into the experiences and sensations manifestly lodged within our surroundings—not as formal histories but as personal, ever-changing narratives. I deliberately return again and again to familiar settings—wooded areas, home interiors, open highways, back country roads—to show that repeated visits to the same place invariably result in wildly divergent depictions. The practice of drawing is an essential part of my work. One wall of my studio is dedicated to my drawings; it becomes a storyboard for the project at hand. I’m interested in the point where imagery breaks down into abstraction, but not completely—I always want to catch it before the sensation of place dissolves into pure mark making.
Brooklyn-based painter Allison Gildersleeve spent her youth in rural Connecticut, where she was born. She earned a BA from the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1992, and an MFA in 2006 from Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Valley House has represented Gildersleeve since 2014. A catalogue will accompany the exhibition.