FINE ARTIST
ARTIST STATEMENT
Like the eternal circle of the Ouroboros, my life and art involve currents of movement and return. I create nature-based abstractions in encaustic and mixed media that explore the interconnectivity of the natural world. I’m intrigued with underlying alchemical processes, and my work reveals a through-line of propensities, repetitions, patterns, and meaning, a spiralling return and wayfinding through process and discovery.
I love the realm between abstraction and representation, where, much like a dream coming through the veil, organic forms merge and mingle with line, shape, color, space. I'm particularly drawn to plants, trees, and other symbols and archetypes that resonate in the human imagination.
My art is a poetic journey where elements and references become abstract, whisper suggestions, and transition into a mysterious realm: nuanced, intriguing, unknown.
ARTIST BIO
Alison's art studio is located at Second Street Studios in Santa Fe and she works for the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.
Alison lived and worked in southern Utah for three years and was the Artist in Residence in Zion National Park in 2023. For the previous twenty years, Alison taught Drawing and Painting at Albuquerque Academy. In addition to classroom teaching, she led students on multi-day wilderness art-making trips in the desert Southwest. She loves sharing her passion for art and nature while guiding people in the backcountry.
Alison grew up in an outdoorsy, nature-loving family in Calgary, Alberta, in the Canadian Rockies. Her early artistic influences include the nature paintings of Emily Carr and the Group of Seven such as Tom Thomson.
After extensive world travel, she earned a BFA in Painting and Drawing in Canada, and an MA in Art Therapy in the United States. She has worked as an art educator, art therapist, an outdoor experiential educator.
Alison’s work has been exhibited in group and solo shows in galleries and museums and is in private collections across the United States and Canada.
EXHIBITIONS
2026 Behind Studio Walls: Santa Fe Studio Tour Exhibition, Community Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2026 Eternal Return (Solo exhibition), Drift Exchange Gallery/Scarab Design, Albuquerque, NM
2025 Plant Love (Solo exhibition), Sillage Salon, Santa Fe, NM
2024 Plantarium 2024, Exhibition and Catalogue, International
Arts Thrive Exhibition, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM
2023 Artist in Residence (Fall), Zion National Park, UT
Gallery Artists Show, Juniper Sky Gallery, Kayenta Art Village, St George, UT
Arts Thrive Art Exhibition and Benefit, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM
Pop Up Art Show, JoyCraftDesign, Springdale, UT
2022 Botanical Abstractions, Springdale Library, Springdale, UT
Select Encaustic Paintings, Cafe Soleil Zion, Springdale, UT
Love & Biophilia in the Desert (Solo exhibition), Zion Community Center, Springdale, UT
The Crow Show, The Studio Door, San Diego, CA
2021 Anonymous Art Show, North Van Arts, North Vancouver, BC, Canada
A Calling of Birds, Elisabeth Jones Art Space, Portland, OR
Out of Hibernation, Gallery Artists Group Show, Exhibit 208, Albuquerque, NM
2020 Arts Thrive Art Exhibition and Benefit, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque NM
15th Annual 12x12 Exhibition and Fundraiser, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque NM
Confluence: PLANT/LIFE (Solo exhibition), Exhibit 208, Albuquerque, NM
Encompass Group Show, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM
2019 Biophilia: Our True Nature (Solo exhibition), Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM
14th Annual 12x12 Exhibition and Fundraiser, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM
20 Year Anniversary Group Show, Exhibit 208, Albuquerque, NM
Arts Thrive Art Exhibition and Benefit, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM
Luanem Gallery Group Show, Menaul School, Albuquerque, NM
April Price Projects Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
Group Show, Exhibit 208, Albuquerque, NM
Summer Group Show, Exhibit 208, Albuquerque, NM
Spring Group Show, Exhibit 208, Albuquerque, NM
Corrales Bosque Gallery, Guest Artist, Corrales, NM
2018 December Group Show, Exhibit 208, Albuquerque, NM
ArtsThrive Art Exhibition and Benefit, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM
13th Annual 12x12 Exhibition and Fundraiser, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM
Gateway to Imagination, Farmington Museum, Farmington, NM
Solo Exhibition, Heritage Gallery, Albuquerque Academy, NM
Abstract Catalyst 5, Verum Ultimum Art Gallery, Portland, OR
Global Warming is Real, Museum of Encaustic Art, Santa Fe, NM
Surface: Emerging Artists of New Mexico, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM
Visual Arts Faculty Show, Albuquerque Academy, NM
Collected, Encompass Gallery Exhibition, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM
2017 11th Annual 12x12 Exhibition and Fundraiser, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM
Small Works Exhibition, New Mexico Art League, Albuquerque, NM
2016 Visual Arts Faculty Show, Albuquerque Academy, NM
Sole/Soul: Mixed Media Work, Dr. Haas Podiatry Office, Albuquerque, NM
2015 Visual Arts Faculty Show, Albuquerque Academy, NM
2013 Collect 10, Center For Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM
Visual Arts Faculty Show, Albuquerque Academy, NM
2012 New Mexico Showcase, 516 ARTS Downtown, Albuquerque, NM
2011 Visual Arts Faculty Show, Albuquerque Academy, NM
2010 Albuquerque NOW - Fall, Albuquerque Museum, NM
2009 Visual Arts Faculty Show, Albuquerque Academy, NM
2007 Visual Arts Faculty Show, Albuquerque Academy, NM
2006 Visual Arts Faculty Show, Albuquerque Academy, NM
2005 12X12 Exhibition and Fundraiser, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM
Visual Arts Faculty Show, Albuquerque Academy, NM
2003 Visual Arts Faculty Show, Albuquerque Academy, NM
2000 NM Art Therapy Association Show, UNM Art Education Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
1999 NM Art Therapy Association Show, Fisher Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
1997 Openings to the Underworld, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM
1996 Art Therapy Graduating Show, UNM Art Education Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
1995 Anatomy of Solitude, China Phoenix Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
1988 Women’s Shelter, Environmental Design Gallery, University of Calgary, AB, Canada
Recent Art Graduates, Virginia Christopher Gallery, Calgary, AB, Canada
BFA Art Graduates, Gulf Canada Gallery, Calgary, AB, Canada
BFA Graduating Exhibition, Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary, AB, Canada
Women’s Show, Little Gallery, University of Calgary, AB, Canada
Survey Alberta ’88, Alberta College of Art, Calgary, AB, Canada