Allison Wade

Drawing on a stockpile of hand-made and found objects, Allison Wade constructs tenuous sculptures of unexpected material juxtapositions. The work relies heavily on balance and tension, and there’s a strong focus on where and how elements meet. Her new work explores structural contingencies and the intersection between two and three dimensions through the process of weaving. The following questions frame Wade’s investigation: How can a loom be a sculpture, both supporting and supported by a weaving? How flat must an object be before it becomes two-dimensional? How, like drawing, can weaving be nimble and deliberate, spontaneous and calculated? The resulting work exploits the intersection between flatness and form, revealing its own intuitive logic while inviting interpretation.

Her new work explores structural contingencies and the intersection between two and three dimensions through the process of weaving. The following questions frame Wade’s investigation: How can a loom be a sculpture, both supporting and supported by a weaving? How flat must an object be before it becomes two- dimensional? How, like drawing, can weaving be nimble and deliberate, spontaneous and calculated? The resulting work exploits the intersection between flatness and form, revealing its own intuitive logic while inviting interpretation.

Allison Wade is a Chicago-based visual artist working primarily in drawing and sculpture. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and holds a BA in English literature from Stanford University. Wade has been awarded residencies at Ox-Bow, ACRE, Mustarinda (Finland), and the Vermont Studio Center and has been a visiting artist at Miami University, Rhodes College, the Cranbrook Academy of Art’s Ceramics Department, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Interlink program. She lives and works in Chicago, where she is a Lecturer in the Department of Art Theory & Practice at Northwestern University.

  • Allison Wade The Good Parts installation view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2021. Photo courtesy of the JMKAC
  • Allison Wade The Good Parts installation view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2021. Photo courtesy of the JMKAC
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  • Allison Wade The Good Parts installation view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2021. Photo courtesy of the JMKAC
  • Allison Wade The Good Parts installation view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2021. Photo courtesy of the JMKAC
  • Allison Wade The Good Parts installation view detail at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2021. Photo courtesy of the JMKAC
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  • Allison Wade The Good Parts installation view detail at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2021. Photo courtesy of the JMKAC
  • Allison Wade The Good Parts installation view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2021. Photo courtesy of the JMKAC
  • Allison Wade The Good Parts installation view detail at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2021. Photo courtesy of the JMKAC
  • Allison Wade The Good Parts installation view detail at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2021. Photo courtesy of the JMKAC
  • Allison Wade The Good Parts installation view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2021. Photo courtesy of the JMKAC
  • Allison Wade The Good Parts installation view detail at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2021. Photo courtesy of the JMKAC
  • Allison Wade The Good Parts installation view detail at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2021. Photo courtesy of the JMKAC
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  • Allison Wade The Good Parts installation view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2021. Photo courtesy of the JMKAC
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