I ♥ Art » Desert Treasures
I rarely pine for a work of art. I must sheepishly confess that you’re more likely to find me daydreaming of a big leather bag than a painting. Not to say that I don’t ♥ art: Matisse, Brancusi, Ernst, Morris Louis, and so on… I just… I don’t need to own them the way I need to own a Reed Krakoff Boxer bag. You know.
But Alma Allen? I’ve been jonesing for this Joshua Tree-based artist’s delicate little sculptures: thinking about which I would own if I could, the precious spot on my desk where it would live, how would it feel in the palm of my hand, how I probably wouldn’t be able to stop at just one…
The stone, bronze, and wood works by Allen have the sumptuous, lusty curves of a Maillol but also a precious quality, evoking the nostalgia of long-forgotten curios. And yet, they’re not relics of the past. They are a modern celebration of the earth: a blast of nature’s colors and resources. Marble, alabaster, malachite, serpentine: we sometimes forget that this is what Earth is really made of.
Allen’s current show, titled Function/Dysfunction, will be travelling to Tokyo in November, where it will run from November 14-26. Be sure to check out the artist’s site for a broader selection of past and current works, for images of Allen’s furniture collection, and for the wonderfully written blog! You can purchase Allen’s work through the website – but pieces are also available at Commune Design, Tortoise, Heath Ceramics, Totokaelo, and The Future Perfect.
