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UPCOMING EXHIBITION
SANCTUARY is an exhibition of spiritually inspired paintings, drawings, and sculptures. The works (utilize, incorporate) both traditional symbols of religions as harnessed by the individual artist, as well as abstractions from less literal interpretations of faith. The word "sanctuary" is defined as "a sacred place" or the "holiest part of a sacred place." But it is also defined as "a place of refuge and protection." For many artists, their "place of refuge" is immersion in the creative process. CURRENT EXHIBITION
SELECTED HAND-BOUND ART JOURNALS IN STUDIO
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Observe, absorb, make, repeat. wash, lather, rinse, repeat. A slide show visit around my studio on any given day. Continually making new works and finding old works, painting, prints sketches, a library of images. Spirit animals return for cyclical visits to feed the muse. Spirit & the Mystic of nature a constant; The source and seed vein for my process. All at once abstract, representational and symbolic like a dream.
The studio is a bit of a wonderland for me. Profiling People Living in *PAWA* is an image & text blog featuring intriguing individuals from all walks of life, in Pamella Allen Wearable Artworks. *PAWA* was born of a Desire and a Question. The Desire: Vibration Positive Artworks for Mind, Body and Soul, *PAWA* is born of the desire to make my original artworks accessible to all, to wear on your body and hang on your wall. The Question: What becomes of the Word Mandala painting when I put it on a basic garment like a t-shirt or a hoodie? What will the work evolve into as it takes on the life, experiences and memories of the individual wearing it? Meet Crystal Acevedo, a positive & energetic being that I met in my neighborhood. An old creative soul in a young body, I was struck by Crystals' constant kindness to everyone that she interacted with and her ability to make each person feel relevant, seen and heard; She is truly an active manifestation of the Sanskrit word Namaste, "The Divine Light in me acknowledges The Divine Light in you"  Crystal in the Word Mandala V-Neck. The Ahimsa Mandala is in the background. How do you define yourself? I define myself as an old soul, who's stuck in the wrong era. I have strong values that doesn't exist anymore, yet I'm part of this generation. Loyalty, Compassion, Selflessness and most of all Heart. My Heart is bigger than any organ in my body. I'm a peaceful person who is willing to help anyone I can. I believe Peace and Love can resolve issues as oppose to violence.
 The Word Mandala Collection is available exclusively at Pamella Allen Wearable ArtWorks        Word Mandala 23inx28in acrylic and mixed media on paper. All Rights Reserved Pamella Allen 2013 - In Private Collection Word Mandala: About the work:
Sand of earth and the expansive black of the universe are the basic elements upon which I/the artist exists, it is the starting place. The Word Mandala was created with the repetitive pattern of the written word in metallic/mineral colors, some of the mantras read; “the tiniest acts of compassion fuel the universe.” and “you have given me hope like sustenance for the body”. Speaking in the language of archetype, this work is meant to bring the viewer to a place of inspired meditation, to a place of peaceful reflection. Introducing DOMINIC D'ANDREA, a young "neuro-genious" hiding in plain sight. Dominic is rockin' the Word Mandala T that they deconstructed to their own unique style. I posed 3 questions, read the inspired reply.  Dominic in the deconstructed Word Mandala T-shirt at Outpost. How do you define yourself? A weird trans queer thing that makes art and systematizes what it perceives. A collection of elements tenuously collaborating to reverse local entropy for a short time by forging billions of organized (albeit haphazard) connections. What inspires you? My most consistent sources of inspiration are either from peers and other artists, or from a generalized bitter, stubborn, grim determination to keep going and see what I can see, get what I can get, and achieve whatever I can achieve. The first one is a generative, positive inspiration that leads to asking questions, making art, and seeking knowledge. The latter is what makes me work 2 jobs and smile to rude customers early in the morning when I want to be absolutely anywhere else, and overall makes me seek to continue living despite not believing in any higher reasons to do so. If this is all I get, I might as well try to get as much of it as I can, basically. In terms of art, animals/anatomy/the workings of the body inspire me, capturing or combating fear/anxiety/dissociation inspires me, and making protective, explicitly meaningful art that makes the wearer/viewer feel more secure and powerful inspires me (especially if it's something that they can use to feel that way while confusing/alienating/enticing strangers on their own terms*).  What do you want? I want to feel like there's solid ground beneath me and like I can live enjoyably right now without screwing over my hypothetical future self. I want to be able to live with my friends and some pets without needing to worry that we aren't safe. I want to help those around me do more of the things they want to do, and for them to help me with the same. (I also want to either stop bordering on an eating disorder or else lose weight - one or the other.) *For me, there's a lot of strength and security in being able to feel like I'm weird and alienating on my own terms. If I look and act anything like I want to, I tend to get stared at and commented on in public. It can be very unpleasant, depending on the type of attention it is. I feel much, much better about it if they are staring because of things I choose (like odd fashion) than because of things I didn't choose (like being trans). It's a way to take agency over the way I move through public social space, which often seems hostile to myself and my friends and community. I like having that for myself, and providing it to others, for instance by painting a t shirt specifically for them.    The Dragon Fly is one of my spirit animals, an archetypal image that returns and returns in the works; a very early childhood memory of watching Dragonflys swoop and dart in and out of the ethereal evening sun at the riverside. In all cultures' from the indigenous to the occidental, the Dragonfly is symbolic of change; "self realization; and the kind of change that has its source in mental and emotional maturity and the understanding of the deeper meaning of life. .Japan made the dragonfly its national emblem. It is a symbol of joy and rebirth. In some Native American traditions, it is also a symbol of the departed souls. For the Mayan, the dragonfly is the emblematic animal of the goddess of creativity, Ix Chel. It is said that the dragonfly’s wings and magical songs revived her after she was almost killed." To quote Octavia Butler, "Change is God"   The original acrylic & mixed media painting now in private collection, entitled Blu Dragon or Dreaming the Dragon. & The BlU Dragon V-Neck.  Excerpt from The Language of Listening, image and prose by Pamella Allen: Ritual Ritual to bring water Ritual to bring Rain Water to quench your parched earth Water to quench your thirst We dance to bring down the baby We dance the coming birth We stomp, we drum down the dead To carry the soul on ahead We sing and chant the pain away We sing and chant insane away They say to pray the devil away And some to even make him stay. Pamella Allen 2014  Night of Dreams 60"x20" Acrylic and mixed medium on canvas Pamella Allen 2004
Coming soon: Small Works Reproductions featuring selected works from "My Mandala". Stay tuned for new additions to Pamella Allen Wearable ArtWorks 'PAWA"
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Pamella AllenBorn hard-wired to replicate what I see, the creative process is an intuitive one for me that is greatly informed by the mystic beauty of the natural world and my experiences with death and impermanence. In my infancy, it was the death of my mother followed by its relentless recurrence over the course of my lifetime that has driven me to seek out, replicate and create all that I can and cannot see to explore these confounding mysteries. I breath, I paint, I live in an attempt to capture what I have observed in my travels around the world, over land and sea, and find place in it. A Jamaica born, Brooklyn based artist, I use artifacts from my life experiences pulled from memory and observation, my work is layered in process: Mixed media paintings, printmaking, sculpture, paper making, Installation, photography/video essay & prose combine to create my own archetype, a universal language of images found and remembered that speaks to the diversity of my heritage, lived experiences and reverence for the mystic found in our natural world. Archives
October 2016
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