Exhibit Springfield Museum of Art
Painter explores conflicts, contrasts

The work of Alison Weld centers on conflict, transition and dichotomy.

Reflecting a kind of postmodern identity crisis, her diptychs present opposing states of mind. She juxtaposes smooth, kitschy fabric next to viscous, energetic painting, finding territory somewhere between pop art and abstract expressionism.

.....Many issues emerge, but essentially the work is about contrast: male vs. female, natural vs. man made, internal vs. external and spontaneous vs. controlled.... In Love and Romance in the Triassic, Weld pairs a panel of paint-spattered artificial flowers with a gestural Willem De Kooning like creature. The flowers evoke femininity, while the painting suggests masculine bravado. The work evokes the beginning of the Triassic period about 220 million years ago, during which more than half of the world’s marine, plant and animal species died out. In this light, the image becomes a pair of starcrossed lovers and the flowers suggest funerary ritual.....

Weld’s work is visceral and compelling, celebratory and brooding. Pieces such as Psyche’s Soul exert a powerful and almost lyrical feminine presence. Others are darker, prompting consideration of conflict and death.

Her diptychs reflect life’s paradigms, in which nothing is absolute and everything is in flux.