2019 E.A.S.T. ARTIST HIGHLIGHT | Alison Pilon Nokes
Alison Pilon Nokes
We're exploring the world of the dozens of local artists featured at MMAC’s 2019 EAST gallery and their mediums. The goal of this series is to shed light on real-life Central Texas artists exploring what & why they create.
Introduce yourself and your work!
My name is Alison Pilon Nokes. I am originally from Hartford, Connecticut and have been living in Austin since August 2017. I am a painter who takes inspiration from everyday, seemingly insignificant moments in life. In the past I have worked with more overtly recognizable imagery - portraits of people and pets, for example. As I have been working on finishing up my MFA in painting at Savannah College of Art and Design my compositions have gotten more and more abstracted. My most recent works take moments from everyday life - for example, the cat lounging on my legs as I read a book - and transform them into something more whimsical. The final works are eye catching, color, texture, and shape based pieces. I will be bringing some older work and some newer work to EAST to showcase the different things I have done in the past few years.
Alison Pilon Nokes
Q: Give us a little back story. How did you decide that what you wanted to do was "grow up" and be an artist?
A: Throughout my life I always love taking art classes - I loved trying all kinds of new materials and techniques and using my hands in different ways. My father is an architect and my mother is a teacher - so there was a definite value for art and learning in my household. I considered majoring in English for a little while during my first year in college - but as soon as I got into a drawing course and an art history course there was no turning back. Studying and creating art were pretty much all I wanted to do. In 2012 I completed a M.Ed in Art Education - which enabled me to share my love of taking art classes with young students. I taught about 5 years in public schools in Connecticut before starting work on my MFA in Painting at Savannah College of Art and Design. Even into my 30s I am still happiest in an art class setting (though sometimes, now, I am the teacher instead of the student!).
Q: Tell us about the work you'll be showing in EAST! Is it narrative and/or emotionally driven? What are you hoping to leave the audience with?
A: I'll be bringing a combination of work completed at the beginning of my MFA program and more recently. The slightly older work is more representational in nature. I am interested in portrait commissions for people and pets and I have some examples of the style I paint in for those types of pieces that I will show. I also will bring some of my newest work which is a preview of what will be in my MFA Thesis Show (the opening reception will be December 6th from 6-9 PM at Motion Media Arts Center). The title of my Thesis Show is "Everyday Whimsy" because all of the work in the show is based on moments from my everyday life that have been abstracted and transformed into colorful and textural expanses. My process in creating this recent work has helped me to escape from the stress and anxiety I have as a person living in the fast-paced, over-stimulating, and intense contemporary world. Whether newer or older, my work is almost always extremely vibrant and bold and, hopefully, uplifting.
Alison Pilon Nokes
I'm excited to share my work with all of the other artists and visitors on the tour. I am ready to really enjoy and absorb being a part of the Austin art community. I want to invite everyone to follow me and my artistic journey and to come to my upcoming Thesis Exhibition!
Check out more of Alison’s work on her Website
ABOUT BIG MEDIUM’S EAST AUSTIN STUDIO TOUR:
Big Medium's East Austin Studio Tour (EAST) is a free, annual, self-guided art event spanning two weekends in November. EAST provides opportunities for the public to meet the artists and artisans of Austin in their creative spaces.