There’s Still Life/Afterlife

The works of Alison Coaten

Alison Coaten: Joan

Alison Coaten's sculptures connect with the thread of folklore (folk = people, lore = knowledge), linking us to people's stories, traditions, and cultures passed down through the generations by various means of expression.  She is fascinated by the human desire to make sense of existence through religion, myth, and folklore, as well as the use of art to create concrete images of worship in the form of icons and idols.

She says -

I use imagery to help create a sense of familiarity within my work, and this imagery is reworked using secular and personal iconography.

When she encounters striking imagery, it stays with her and nags her until she is compelled to create a sculpture. Her recent creation, Joan, was inspired by a painting of Joan of Arc by John Everett Millais.

Alison Coaten: Harvester

This passion has also led her to depict strong female archetypes based on remarkable and formidable women, such as the legendary Pope Joan, who purportedly reigned as Pope for two years in the Middle Ages.   While the story was believed for centuries, scholars now consider her a fictional character.   Regardless, this is another indication of the strength of storytelling in Alison's work.

Other recent works explore our relationship with animals and play with the ideas of Madonna and Child, with images found in Flemish art and the Reserve heads of ancient Egypt.

Alison Coaten: Fiadh

The piece Fiadh, meaning 'deer' or 'wild', came from Celtic tales of fairy cattle herded by women who shapeshifted into a deer. The piece can be viewed as an approach from one side and a transformation and integration from the other.

Her intrigue in Egyptology can be sensed from the energy of the forms she uses. The Egyptians believed that the soul lived within the body, so they preserved it to keep the spirit intact. Their glorification of life after death is signified by the pyramids and their contents of possessions and objects of worship. To reflect this, Alison sometimes buries found objects and meaningful items in her pieces. The sound of these items moving around can be heard when her sculptures are picked up.  

Another example of her attraction to this culture and the afterlife is the concept of preservation.  The Egyptians would mummify their dead.  She also uses a preservation technique for her sculptures, which includes using glass eyes, blown or hand-painted and intended for taxidermy; this gives her sculptures a human feel, bringing them to life.

Alison Coaten: Bust of Pope Joan