Sculpture artist Alison Stosich always knew she wanted to be an artist, but it wasn’t until she found bronze that she really discovered her voice. The medium gave her a pathway to create all of the ideas she had percolating in her mind’s eye––more so than she could achieve with clay.
A serendipitous job at a foundry in her hometown in Utah exposed her to the medium as well as numerous bronze artists. Being in that environment, Alison started generating tons of ideas of her own. And as soon as she decided to take the leap and invest in her first bronze sculpture, it quickly snowballed into a full body of work.
It wasn’t long before she began experimenting with mixing media, combining natural and earthen elements with bronze to create soothing, calming sculptures and wall art. Alison said she really found her voice when she began creating pieces she wanted in her own home rather than trying to create what she thought others wanted. And as it turns out, what she wanted is exactly what countless collectors have wanted for their own homes.
Read on or watch the video below to learn more about Alison and her journey as a sculpture artist.
When did you know art was your calling?
I think I’ve always been interested in art and I’ve always enjoyed making art. But it wasn’t until the last few years that I really focused on it and tried to pursue it as a career. Before then, I was working in creative fields and making my art just on the side. I think just working at a foundry and seeing all of the art that was coming through, it just gives you so many ideas. And being around so many other artists and seeing their process, I had so many ideas of things that I wanted to make, but bronze can be expensive. So, I made one and then I had so many more ideas––it just kept rolling and building from there.
What do you love most about creating art?
I love that it’s kind of problem solving. Usually, I have an idea and then from there, it’s a lot of, “Well, should I do it like this or like this? Or I could do it like this.” There are so many decisions that you have to make before you get to that final product. So, I like the problem-solving aspect of figuring out how I can get this to look like this without this showing. Working through all of those problems until there’s something that looks finished that I’m happy with.
How has your work evolved?
My work has opened up a lot. Making the switch to bronze, I feel like I can do a lot more with it and it matches my intentions and my ideas a lot better. I like to mix mediums when I can, blending natural items as well as bronzed pieces. I feel like you can tell when it’s (a sculpture) just bronze because it looks metallic. But when I mix in other mediums, it softens it.
I gravitate towards earth tones. Even when I’m starting with something that isn’t, necessarily an earth tone, I always try to steer it that way. I like to think that it’s very calming and soothing, and that it brings that energy to people’s space.
What brought you to the Celebration of Fine Art?
I worked at a foundry and I had delivered some work from the foundry to a couple of the artists here. I had been to the show a few times just to deliver work when they needed to restock their sculptures. This year, I had built up enough work that I thought I would try it, so I applied. Being around this many artists, it’s such a unique experience and something that you don’t get very often. I feel like I haven’t had that experience since college. Being surrounded by artists and being able to talk through things and get advice on what they think of this while I’m working on stuff, it’s really valuable to me.