Building Blocks

Allison and Bray: Time and Place

by Louise Johnstone, artist and art historian

The successful creative projects completed by Allison and Bray since 2002 evidence the spirit of cooperation, mutual respect and trust that exists between these two contemporary Scottish artists. Allison and Bray approach their site-specific work without preconceived ideas and believe that the nature and meaning of their work should emerge in an intuitive and organic way out of their experience of each location.

They share a similar artistic ambition: to interact imaginatively with the world around them in order to provoke a creative dialogue between themselves, the work and its audience. Their artistic interventions create subtle changes to place, heightening visual awareness and allowing a very personal response in the viewer, encouraging each to make his or her connections and associations. The accessibility of their work comes from its domestic scale - it is never intimidating. Encountering art in unexpected locations, they believe, engenders a less self-conscious response in the viewer.

Ultimately, each project is informed by research and the accumulated understanding is then translated through the creative practice of making - where visual form is given to their ideas. Both artists are clear about the advantages of working collaboratively, bringing the opportunity to pool different areas of expertise and tackle more ambitious and challenging projects. Trust in each other’s talent, judgement and commitment means that they find it fun to work alongside a partner with a different visual perception and imagination

Their work frequently crosses into different visual and creative territories, as in the ‘Nesting’ piece, which involved digital media. Together they explore a wide range of natural and man-made materials in the work, applying both craft and art techniques in the construction, adding further layers of meaning to the work.

Louise Johnstone 2011

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