I believe that we all have an enormous amount of creative potential.
However, so much of this potential remains locked in the subconscious, never fully realized. I am drawn to how these too-often lost thoughts and images can inform the understanding of my own mindset and make-up.
I try to tap into this creative well by sketching fleeting thoughts and ideas that pass through my waking mind, as well as recording images from my dreams. From these sources, I gradually redraft and refine, clarifying and combining these images into narratives.
Perhaps my artistic style has developed as an exploration of the many layers of subconscious. This layering can be seen in my current work, which consists of a combination of drawing and painting. I have recently begun to work with models. Predominantly friends of mine, I share my sketches and ideas with them, then allow them the creative freedom to interpret these ideas into their own bodies and expressions. Referring to photos from these sessions, I build the composition incorporating graphite, colored pencil, acrylic and oil paint.
I paint very slowly in layers, creating complex semi-transparent colors. It can take weeks or even months to complete one painting.
This painstaking process gives me time to live with each painting, infusing each work with different aspects of myself. Each emerging painting gradually reveals to me obscured or hidden aspects of my own nature.
2007
Possible Fantasy / Impossible Reality, November 3, 2007, Morpho Gallery, Chicago, IL
Devils and Beasts, The Art Center, Highland Park, IL; curated by Bert Menco
When Pablo Met Allison, EOS Gallery, Athens, Greece
2006
Studio Show, John Kurtz Studio, Chicago, IL
Surrealistic Pillow, Morpho Gallery, Chicago
Unveiled, Paintings by Allison Hill & Johanna Vargas; La LLorona Gallery, Chicago, IL
VII Women International Conference, Galeria Menache, Celaya, Mexico
Abstract ~ Impressions, Walter Fydryck, Allison Hill & John Kurtz; Morpho Gallery, Chicago, IL
Inside Out, Group exhibition at River Bank Lofts Gallery, 550 N. Kingsbury, Chicago, IL
2005
Inside the Silhouette, La LLorona Gallery, 1474 W. Webster Ave, Chicago, IL
VI Women's International Conference, Kunstlerhaus Arts Center, Graz, Austria
Pieces of US, Recent Works by Allison Hill and Pablo Perea, Zentra Nightclub, Chicago, IL
2004
Common Ground, Hallar Gallery, Kansas City, MO
Off the Beaten Way Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Around the Coyote Arts Festival 2004
Chicago Art Open 2004, National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum
Fabrications, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
2003
Around the Coyote Arts Festival, Callahan/Walte Studios, Chicago, IL
Chicago Art Open 2003, Chicago, IL
Her Mark 2004 Calendar, Publication and Exhibition, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
Chicago, Galeria Menache, Mexico City, Mexico
Havana Holiday, Havana Gallery, Chicago, IL
Labyrinths, Gallery Mornea, Evanston, IL
2002
Around the Coyote Arts Festival, Callahan/Walte Studios, Chicago, IL
Annual Members' Show, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
Solo Exhibition, Bourgeois Pig Cafe, Chicago, IL
2001
Around the Coyote Arts Festival, Callahan/Walte Studios, Chicago, IL
Annual Members' Show, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
4th International Open, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
2000
Her Mark, prints & drawings by women, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL. Juror: Mary King
1999
Daydreams and Nightmares , Solo Exhibition at DePaul University, Chicago, IL
Group Exhibition, DePaul University, Chicago, IL
1998
Group Exhibition, DePaul University, Chicago, IL
Group Installation, sculpture at Illinois Wesleyan, IL
