Allison Schulnik

Originally trained as an animator, Allison Schulnik creates ethereally macabre paintings, sculptures and films that evoke a Shakespearian tragedy set in the deepest realms of the forest. Ghostly creatures in long white cloaks, screaming monkeys and melting faces of social outcasts and storybook characters make up the haunting, textured landscape of Schulnik’s world. Often working in thickly applied paint and Claymation, the artist approaches her subjects with a deep sense of compassion for the twisted, downtrodden cast of characters that inhabit her work, imbuing each figure with a sense of agency.  In addition to the formal, art-historical reference found in her paintings, Schulnik draws inspiration from the works of Hans Christian Anderson and The Brothers Grimm, interweaving the dark realities of iconic stories in to her own “allegorical odyssey.”

Schulnik has had significant solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Montreal, Rome and London, and has exhibited in both group shows and film screenings around the world, including those at the Garage Center for Contemporary Art, Moscow, St. Louis Contemporary Arts Museum, MO, Contemporary Arts Museum, Los Angeles, The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, and the Hafia Museum of Art, Hafia, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, among others.