Allison M. Low

Oddlings

Friday 2 – Saturday 17 October

Intrigued by the power play that inadvertently arises between children, Allison M. Low pursued an introspective journey. After three years of exploration and soul-searching, Oddlings matured into a portrait of her umwelt. The result of this process – combined with her love of drawing – has culminated in the works for this exhibition.

Using children as her subjects, Allison creates peculiar situations depicting the uncontrollable and erratic desires that lie deep within the human psyche. Drawing from portraits of unknown children from a distant place and time has become a way of detaching from personal calamity. It provides an open landscape to process emotions from a place beyond the immediate mess. By constructing exaggerated scenarios of children – playing twisted games, manipulating and being manipulated, dealing with semi-inanimate existences – Allison’s Oddlings gaze out into the gallery space with disconcerting faces, urging the viewer to engage with their narratives and to question how they themselves might face periods of emotional chaos.

“[Oddlings]… is about desire, vulnerability and loss. Drawing on the discord in human relationships, and the duality between self-worth and self-sacrifice in times of great uncertainty.”   Allison M. Low

Image: Allison M. Low, Dorothy, 2015, graphite and gouache on paper, 90 x 71cm. Courtesy of the artist.

Selected Works by Allison M. Low

Bed, 2012, graphite and gouache on paper, 77 x 57cm (unframed). Image courtesy of the artist.
AUD $2470.00

Hopscotch, 2012, graphite and gouache on paper, 77 x 57cm (unframed). Image courtesy of the artist.
AUD $2470.00

Pinata, 2012, graphite and gouache on paper, 77 x 57cm (unframed). Image courtesy of the artist.
AUD $2470.00

Playing Doctor, 2015, graphite and gouache on paper, 70 x 70cm (unframed). Image courtesy of the artist.
AUD $2470.00

The Frog Prince, 2014, graphite and gouache on paper, 77 x 57cm (unframed).
AUD $2470.00

Dorothy, 2015, graphite and gouache on paper, 77 x 57cm (unframed). Image courtesy of the artist.
AUD $2470.00

All images copyright of the artist, Allison M. Low ©2015