Alison C. Rollins
WRITER      ARtIST        EDUCATOR      LIBRARIAN

ARTIST STATEMENT

 

As a Black, queer, woman, my work centers the power of storytelling and nuanced forms of representation. I dance between the literary and visual worlds of artistic production thereby constructing the architecture of multifaceted narratives. As a writer and interdisciplinary artist, I draw from various art-making practices such as dramaturgy, performance art, sonics, collage, letterpress printing, textiles, sculpture, metalwork, mask-making, and digital art. I often center the process of historical reference and the practice of ethical resuscitation of the archive. Much of my work celebrates the Black American experience and the ways in which cataloging, technology, information, and identities are inextricably entangled. I am fascinated by the ways we use technology to generate, circulate, organize, and obscure knowledge. I am interested in how and why some art and artists become labeled as "difficult," "experimental," and "avant-garde." My work explores the fragile line between "human" and "nonhuman" beings, encouraging a social justice focused art practice that seeks to collaborate with plants, animals, and robots in this galaxy and beyond.

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Harvard Radcliffe Institute Fellowship (2023-2024)

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Brown Arts Institute David Dornstein '85 Artist Grant (2023)

 

Effective Performance Certificate Recipient (2022)

Awarded by the Graduate School of Brown University and Trinity Repertory Company

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Brown Arts Institute Research Fellow (2022)

Supported the work of Theaster Gates' Black Chapel exhibition at London's Serpentine Gallery Pavilion (10 Jun-16 Oct 2022)

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Almost Now, Just Then... (2017) projects + gallery

Featured Essay in Exhibition Catalogue 

Group exhibition featuring work by artists Lyndon Barrois Jr., Addoley Dzegede, Jen Everett, Kahlil Robert Irving, Katherine Simóne Reynolds and WORK/PLAY (Kevin and Danielle McCoy)

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