A Description of Allyson Vieira’s Work

Allyson Viera’s work has strong reference to the history/future of sculpture, and the relationship between the artist and the materials they choose. In her lecture, she spoke quite a bit on her inspirations and what she had in mind for the viewer when creating her sculptures and drawings. The first sculpture she discussed, Cody, is from a marbleized mixture of plaster and cement. It mimics a shape similar to that of 1/4 segment of pyramid. Allyson described the piece to mimic the quarry of a mountain. It is situated to fit easily into the corner of a large room. The largest bit of plaster and cement is assumed to be the “piece”, but the rectangular bits of material that are carved out of the largest mass, also remain in the room and are arranged with some sense of order along the adjacent wall. The material is raw and has only been altered by the Allyson and the tools she used. Indentations and evidence of the alterations to the material are obvious and appear to be intentionally left visible. The plaster has a layering to it that is made more apparent in the material that has been removed from the largest mass. The shape that Vieira has chosen to carve out of the large mass is a vertical rectangle, and according to Vieira is in reference to the history of sculpture and how incredibly relevant the reference to the human form is in that. 

Vieira continues the exploration of the vertical rectangle in much of her later works. One in particular is a sculpture in a smaller room that is a grid of 8x4 vertical pillars. Each pillar is reminiscent of the rectangles that were carved out of the pyramid-like form in Cody. The pillars are made of plaster and cement, but also finished on the outside with dry-wall. Similar to cody, all of the evidence of how these pillars were made is implicit upon viewing them. Every pillar was sawed to particular and identical dimensions. The only differences in each pillar were dependent on how the material reacted to the alterations made by the artist and the tools. None of the pillars are altered in color from the natural state of the material, the only exception being rust that rubbed off from the saw used to cut them. 

Allyson further explores the history of sculpture with the use of vertical form, but begins to explore vertical form as a means to provide stability. In her continued use of vertical rectangular sculpture, she eventually explores how these forms provide stability and balance. 

Her drawings are where she references what the future of material might look like and the role they may play in sculpture/construction. Without any controversial intentions, she references the possibility that our trash may be recycled into the earth and used by whatever/whoever occupies it in thousands or even millions of years. She does this by using disposable coffee cups as reference to construct a pyramid shape; implying the inevitability of coffee cups making their way into the earth to be used again in new ways. Of all the drawings, she brought the coffee cup drawing to life in sculpture form. As an outdoor installation, the sculpture underwent the wear and tear from all four seasons; collecting snow and leaves and being altered and heated from the warmth of the sun. This sculpture also occupied the corner of a quarry, which also referenced the sculpture she previously made, Cody.