Artist Statement: Alison J. Stein

My art comes from an urgent need to observe, document, and ultimately make something out of what I experience. Earlier in my professional career, this same impulse expressed itself in journalism and nonfiction writing.

I make paintings on collaged substrates, textile art and book art, based on observations and accumulations from the world, especially my native home, New York City, and my current home in Pittsburgh. I’m delighted by beautiful materials that have had a previous life of some kind, such as vintage papers, recovered fabrics and other objects and doo-dads — all of which I collect. I incorporate these into my paintings — often literally, when I use them to create a collage, which I use as a canvas for painting.

I enjoy experimenting with different methods, from cut paper art to pom-pom design. Every new technique I learn illuminates a part of the world that had previously been shadowed. For example, learning how to weave made yarn extremely interesting.

I revel in the ability to access my subconscious world by working intuitively. I imagine it's like going to a great library, such as the Library of Celsus, but all the books are blank — until I pull them out onto a canvas, paper, a weaving. And then there is meaning and stories that I had no idea about existing inside me. And also, you.