Alison Mathews is a Los Angeles based painter, who works, shows, and sells privately out of her studio in Santa Monica. Alison has participated in several group shows, including Create: Fixate (2005).

After completing her BA in Fine Arts from the University of Virginia, Alison continued to study art in the Continuing Education programs at The New School at Parsons, Art Center in Pasadena, and Otis School of Design. Over the past ten years, such studies have allowed Alison to continue to explore new techniques and approaches to painting.

In the spring of 2007, Alison became the subject of a short documentary, “Alison Mathews: Art Matters,” detailing her methodology to painting and following the live process of creating several pieces. The documentary was featured at the Oregon Film Festival in the fall of 2007.

The perfection and individuality of any piece of art manifests itself in precise details, composition, and technique. These components not only characterize a work as particular to that artist, but they foster the mood of the overall piece and capture the viewer’s attention – first once,then again. What’s important to me lies in the color, shapes, and careful patterning that I weave together on my canvas.

In Phaidon’s 2002 book “Vitamin P”, critics, curators, and museum directors from around the world nominated a few hundred contemporary artists to represent the art of painting as it exists today. As opposed to the Modern Art movement of the 20th Century, the book preface suggests that today’s Contemporary Art is “knowingly gratuitous” and states, “(it’s) determinedly gratuitous - finding ways to do something other than solve a problem has indeed become art’s problem.”

I paint in bright, bold, and poppy colors. I gravitate toward complimentary colors, as I’m fascinated by how they resonate and play off one another. In the midst of these colors, what is essential to me are the subtle shades that I paint in between. The shading captures a sense of depth and allows for building texture with the paint itself. Though my paintings may deal with subject matter in different ways, the colors and treatment of color help tie my paintings together.

From an early age, I developed an ability to see any item in front of me broken down into basic shapes. I have long thrived on piecing together puzzles and problem solving, and when I began drawing in school I quickly realized that I could imagine any object taking an almost infinite number of forms. Using my eyes to play with reality is a part of every composition I create.

I use repetition and patterning as a means of guiding the eye. As a lover of literature, I see letters as art forms. I am fascinated with how particular character combinations can insinuate certain emotions into a work .

Though I’m admittedly an enthusiastic problem-solver, I paint by submerging myself in the creative process itself. For me, painting is about synthesizing techniques that have worked for other artists, practicing, and crafting my own. Ultimately, my work and technique is simply an expression of myself, of my ideas,... my own gratuitous attempt at painting.