About The Artist

Back in the early 70’s my childhood was a time of happiness and imagination where anything was possible. I believe all children have this innate joy. They glow from the inside out. But, as we grow tensions rise and creativity dies. For me the combination of Covid lockdowns, the negative impact upon my restaurant business, and turning 50 brought this perfect storm front and center. Stress was draining the life out of me. So, I took up meditation. Challenged to quiet my anxious mind, I gravitated towards guided meditations. I practiced every day morning and evening. I “worked” at meditation. Then one evening I was guided to picture my younger, smaller self and to remember a specific moment when I was truly happy. Struggling at first, I deliberately slowed my breath, and after a few beats, envisioned myself when I was all of four or five popping up on the side of a pool wearing my favourite red polka dot bathing suit over which I was sporting a frilly white skirt. On my arms I was rocking Disney floaties. Looking into that little girl's bucktoothed smiling face, laughter bubbled up unbidden, and struck by a simple truth I stammered out loud, “We never had to take any of it seriously, did we?” To which the little girl in my meditation grinned even broader and suddenly, surprised by my unexpected insight, I felt a thousand times lighter. And so began my quest to come full circle. Today, I create mobile art that utilizes wheels to represent the cycle of personal evolution, suspended and revolving mixed media acrylic painted figures that symbolize the interplay and shared experience we have within our environments, and a cast of characters that tell the story of diversity, finding where we fit, and of a life well lived in our ever-changing world. Through my narrative kinetic sculptures I choose to celebrate that innocent wisdom, live a life of childlike joy, boundless imagination, and put on display my own poignant moments leading me to remember that... we never had to take any of it seriously, did we? Artist Statement Alison Galvan creates Dada inspired cheeky kinetic mobiles that highlight the humour in humanity. Bicycle wheels symbolizing the cycles of life form the foundation from which figures as diverse in age as they are in race, sex and ethnicity, are suspended, twisting and swiveling, manipulated by the environment - an echo of our reality. The interplay of the figures and their specific placement speaks to the need to fit in, to conform, while simultaneously carving out our place. Her work is a thought-provoking commentary on our evolution in space and time and the judgements made and spewed both in the physical and digital universe that are so easily done at an anonymous distance. The mobile as a whole represents the elusive dance of ideas that flow from the ether through the artist and out into the physical realm and the recycled newspaper armature at each figure's core represents the secret stories we all hold. Tall tales unto themselves, designed to catch you off guard, to make you laugh, ultimately, Alison Galvan's work is a study in her own personal growth and illumination of the silliness of our seriousness, poking fun at that which makes us all so very human.