Allison Schulnik’s textured paintings move between stirring and ominous scenes and more surreal characters. The denseness of her process gives her paintings a sculptural quality. Study of each work reveals several layers and intrigue.
“I paint rejects, misfits and their landscapes,” the artist has said. “My fixation on these characters is not intended to exploit deficiencies, but to find valor in adversity. Whether hobo clowns, misshapen animals or scarecrows, they are usually built upon a human frame, often times the frame of myself, loved ones and sometimes people I have never met, which at times give them an awkward humanity. Drawing from film, music, cartoons, dance, I like to blend earthly fact, blatant fiction to form a stage of tragedy, farce, and raw, ominous beauty – at times capturing otherworld buffoonery, and other times presenting a simple earthly dignified moment.”