ALLISON HUDSON: THE ALCHEMY OF TRANSFORMATION
|by Barbara Pavan|
For Allison Hudson, art is a vocation, an innate talent, a conscious choice — and, above all, a calling. A calling she tried to elude for many years, seeking more “practical” paths, but which ultimately proved inescapable. The creative avenues she had pursued up to that point had felt like compromises, partial attempts to satisfy a deeper need. It was only after a long and unintended hiatus from artistic practice that Hudson recognized her true path: to create art, and to fully embrace that part of herself.
Her research manifests itself through the relentless exploration of materials. Each work is born as an act of experimentation, an open dialogue with matter. She loves to play with different materials, interrogating them to discover how far they can be pushed and manipulated. The concept of impermanence, a cornerstone of her poetics, guides her choice of raw materials: fabric, clay, wax — elements destined to lose their form, to dissolve, to transform into something else. In the present moment, however, they can be endlessly shaped, assuming new and surprising forms, far removed from their original nature.
Tactility is an indispensable aspect of her creative process. Her practice is profoundly tied to gesture, to the physical contact with materials. Each work is literally born in her hands, through an approach that is both physical and instinctive. The artist builds, tears apart, stitches back together — a process that is simultaneously conceptual and generative, from which new forms emerge, emancipated from their material origin.
The inspiration that fuels her sculptures often sprouts in an intimate and spontaneous way. Hudson recounts that many of her creations are born while listening to music, daydreaming on the couch. Sometimes she sketches rough drafts, but more often she entrusts the creative process to the images imprinted in her memory. From these suggestions, a work takes shape through assemblies, disassemblies, cuts, stitches — a fluid and open process, where the final piece often diverges from the initial image. Yet it is precisely in this metamorphosis that the deepest meaning of her practice resides.
At the base of her research lies a powerful internal impulse: the search for truth. Around this need revolve the themes of cyclicality, regeneration, transformation, and impermanence. Currently, her interest focuses on sexuality and the representation of the female body and psyche, articulated through these conceptual lenses. And yet, she admits, the full meaning of her works often only becomes clear to her after the creative process is complete.
Metamorphosis, for her, is a personal and tangible experience. As a woman traversing midlife, she daily confronts transformation: physically, in the changing of her body; spiritually, in shedding layers to draw closer to a more authentic version of herself. She views aging as an act of liberation, a perception reflected in her increasingly ethereal works. Her most recent pieces, almost intangible, are configured as “skins” shed during a continuous process of renewal.
Through her works, Hudson seeks to establish an emotional connection with the observer. Although she is aware of the internal meaning of her pieces, she allows each person to approach them freely, without imposing interpretations. Indeed, she is often surprised when the public captures and mirrors her own emotions, as if glimpsing the intimacy of her creative thought. If a work manages to touch, to stir something within another, Hudson considers it fully realized.
Allison Hudson (Philadelphia, 1969) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans sculpture, installation, and textile-based work, marked by a tactile sensibility and a conceptual focus on transformation. After earning a B.A. in Asian Studies from Vassar College (1991), she studied painting and sculpture at the University of North Carolina and ceramic sculpture in the MFA program at the University of Arizona.
Following a decade-long career as a nationally recognized entrepreneur and cake designer, she fully returned to her artistic practice in 2020. Since then, her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across the United States and Canada. Recent solo presentations and installations include Safe Passage (Francis McCray Gallery, WNMU, 2024), Bundle in Repose (InLiquid, Philadelphia, 2024), A Symphony in 8 Parts (James Baird Gallery, Newfoundland, 2024), and Off Label (Automat, Philadelphia, 2024). She has also taken part in group exhibitions at Woman Made Gallery (Chicago), Verum Ultimum (Portland), Gravers Lane Gallery, and Mark Borghi (Sag Harbor).
In 2024, Hudson was awarded the Edwina and Charles Milner Women in Arts Award and completed a residency at the Pouch Cove Foundation in Newfoundland, Canada. Her work is included in both public and private collections, notably at Western New Mexico University and the James Baird Foundation.
