Story #5 Abigail Allan art show

Local talent Abigail Allan visited Anoka Ramsey Community College (ARCC) yesterday to kick off her solo art show that is going to be displayed in the school’s Great River Art Gallery from March 10th –April 6th. From 2-3 p .m. Allan presented at the ARCC’s weekly college hour and discussed her life, art and ideologies. Allan presented to a full crowd in ARCC’s River Room, among those in attendance were Chairman of the Art Committee, Linda Varvale, as well as President of the Art Department, Chris Gray.

Allan enthralled onlookers with her PowerPoint presentation which demonstrated her passion for art and how it has been inspired by the beauty of science. The presentation focused on the similar methodologies between art and science. Allan shared how she has learned to apply the scientific method to her artisanship and how this helped her conceive and comprehend the meaning behind her work. Calvin Jarchow, a nursing student at ARCC was amazed from what he heard at the presentation. “The things that you presented are things that I’ve thought a thousand times, but was never able to articulate on my own.” He accredited to Allan at the end of her presentation.

Allan mentioned that even since childhood she has been creating things such as small universes out of play dough (one of many unconditional materials that she still uses today.) It wasn’t until comments of artist and close friend Ari Muzner, that Allan discovered art was her passion, “Go back to what you did as a child, that is what you do” He said. Allan received her bachelors of arts at N.Y. State School of Ceramics; she also attended Alfred University and received her bachelors of fine arts in art and design, with minors in art history and biology.

Allan stated that as soon as she was introduced to science she was intrigued however; her artwork gained a new meaning after she saw the image, Vertebrate Embryo Ontogeny Figure by Ernst Haeckel. The image depicts the fetal development of eight different vertebrae, including human beings. Allan was amazed at the fetal similarity between humans and animals and thus began her repertoire. Her art show revolves around the idea of deformity based on the environment. Allan is drawn to the comparability of natural selection and mankind’s own evolution of human emotional development.

Allan, being a Minn. native, was drawn to our states own deformed frogs; she depicts many variations of these creatures in her show. She displayed paintings, ceramics, and hand crafted sculptures of deformed animals many of them being frogs. “Rare artist shows I can walk through the whole thing and be amazed,” Admitted ARCC student Eric Dalhberg. Allan emphasized however, that nature in its organic form is amazing in itself. Allan summed up her passion for art and science by stating that in both there are no absolutes, the world is not solid, and that there is no guarantee that world is perceived the same to everyone. However, by incorporating science into her art, she was able to introduce the students and faculty at ARCC to a new and beautiful art form that every living thing on this planet can relate to.