Alannah Robins

Alannah Robins

Take a walk in the Grizedale Forest Sculpture Park in Cumbria and you will come across the five-meter tall wooden sculpture ”Woman of the Water”, ranked by The Guardian as one of the top eight sculptures of the female figure in England in a group which impressively includes the artist Henry Moore. Yet another masterpiece by Alannah Robins – the bronze sculpture ”Reflex” – is not more than a hand high. Between these two pieces exists a wide spectrum both in terms of size, material and expression. Alannah’s work revolves around themes of identity, memory, migration and man’s relationship with nature. Finding herself as an immigrant in Sweden, Alannah uses her artwork to explore this state of displacement, of not quite belonging. "The reductive process is central to my way of working, although I only recognized this recently. For years, in regards to my oil painting, my practice has been to apply the paint and to remove it after some weeks, leaving accidental marks. Furthermore my paper cut shadow works involve a taking away of the material, and even in my work with elk bone, I am working with the last remaining material from the animal body. This process is often set side by side with the looser practice of pouring ink or paint, or of setting together previously unrelated objects to suggest deeper layers of meaning. Sometimes I question the simplicity of the pouring, doubting the artistic merit of something so accidental. But many, many failures leave these beautiful gems isolated, confirming for me their strong aesthetic qualities. It’s important that I believe in my own process". Alannah has won several commissions and awards for her artwork in Ireland and Sweden, including a public commission for the Waterford Institute of Technology and the Helge Axeson Johnson stipend. She collaborates regularly with other artists and musicians and is the driving force behind Opera Factory Sessions.