My name is Allison Moyers and I’m a contemporary painter in Phoenix, Arizona. I make large-scale figurative oil paintings incorporating resin and mixed media. My work is a constant and changing narrative that portrays the women inside me through the lens of a dream. I spent most of my 20s touring Europe and living in France, where I got my art degree. I was truly blessed to be surrounded by so much history and art that I couldn’t have experienced anywhere else. As an American in Paris, I was immersed in French culture while remaining somewhat idealistic and naive, inspiring much of the poetry and romanticism of my work.
Women and the feminine have always inspired me. While exploring the museums of Europe, I found myself drawn to the portrayal of the female figure. I was in love with the goddess-like nature of women portrayed in the ancient past and their transition through the modernist years to a more realistic version of the feminine. Yet, I couldn’t help but notice the missing nuance of the female artist’s perspective. I wanted to find a way to connect the rich history of western art to my experience as a woman. I wanted my work to reflect upon the beauty and strength of the feminine unlimited by the negative contemporary response to the male gaze. I then began to question desire and human experience that long for the unattainable. My translation is a broken and beautiful reality.
I eventually turned to a cinematic narrative for my inspiration: mesmerizing images of old Hollywood that connect me to my American upbringing. I loved the aesthetic that cinema brought to my work, and our culture's visceral reaction to its perfectionism adds a deeper meaning. The rejection and destruction of the feminine ideal have reinvigorated my desire to present femininity as a strength: something to accept and embrace. My work explores my inner turmoil within the familiar beauty of starlets' faces. Reflections through a cinematic screen project a beautifully broken and twisted world of fictional characters in a dreamlike space. I enjoy playing with the dramatization of masculine and feminine dynamics found in cinematic narratives. The male as the artist and the female as the specimen inspires voyeurism in my pieces. It is important to me that the male regard as a role reversal is present in my paintings to counter the cliche of a female spectator. The idea that the male persona is outside of the artwork fascinates me. I like to think there is a looming male presence in most of my pieces where women are the subjects.
Classic literature and poetry are also a part of my work. Unrequited love, love lost, and impossible romances are a reflection of my personal experiences. Elements of the poetic are seen through remnants of the feminine icon, wounded, searching for meaning where reason is lost. Our society has a way of idealizing the past through story-telling and mythology. And it is the western ideal that captivates and inspires my art. Beauty has been a driving force in art throughout history. Now it is our time as women to create without limitation.
Historically we have told stories of the past through painting. My work continues that story by revisiting the past through the present. Nostalgia within the present carries heavy emotions of vice, addiction, and decline. I am intrigued by the male/female drama and how its narrative affects contemporary art. Vanity, materialism, and obsession with stardom are part of the themes that define my work. I use my art as a stage to express the heartbreak of love, the desire for an unattainable image, and what it feels like to be a woman. Art helps me to cope with negativity and understand people with differing views. As an artist, I am interested in sharing, connecting, and continuing the story by inspiring others through my work. The narrative of feminine vulnerability in a culture obsessed with the superficial is a way to express my emotions and create a world where I am both the artist and the muse.
Web: allisonmoyersart.com
IG: @thepoetthatpaints