In a Word
artist statement
Even as a child, I’ve always had a tactile imagination that likes to freeze moments in time. I wonder what would it be like to wring water from a cloud like a sponge? To squeeze burned embers back together into a new form? To pluck a puddle from the ground and save its perfectly unique shape? This playful need to capture nature in unnatural ways is something I constantly explore and have fun with in my ceramics work.
My approach is minimalist but warm, a Nordic aesthetic influenced by my Swedish grandmother. I pare my concepts to their simplest elements, leaving enough to evoke a subtle feeling or memory.
I am also drawn to pottery’s ability to convey visual and tactile experiences simultaneously. I use both handbuilt and wheelthrown porcelain forms, hand-carvings, slips, and glazes to create or obscure texture, light, and shadow and explore the relationship between what we see and what we feel when we interact with ceramics.
biography
Born in Southern Massachusetts, Kimberly Allison studied film production and graphic design at Boston University, graduating in 2005. She spent the first decade of her career as a designer in Boston. In 2012, she took a ceramics class as a date night with her husband and became enamored with clay. In late 2016, after immersing herself in classes and studio workshops, Kim decided to shift careers to pursue ceramics full time. Her backgrounds in film and in design contribute to her love of storytelling and her enthusiasm for the art of making by hand. Her works have been featured in juried fine craft shows around the country and most recently in her first solo exhibition at the Southern Vermont Arts Center. Kim currently works out of her Salem, MA home studio with her husband, cat, and reluctant “studio assistant” pup. She teaches classes and workshops at The Clay School in Lynn, Massachusetts.
experience
Studio Potter, 2017-Present: K. Allison Ceramics, Salem, MA
Ceramics Instructor, 2018-Present: The Clay School, Lynn, MA
Event Organizer, 2016-Present: Lydia Pinkham Open Studios, Lynn, MA
galleries
Princeton University Museum Store, Princeton, NJ
Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT
Pause Gallery, Troy, NY
Carolina Creations, New Bern, NC
Society of Arts + Crafts, Boston, MA (now closed)
Red Tractor Trading Company, Rockport, MA (now closed)
Pick Up Modern & More, Lynn, MA (now closed)
juried exhibition highlights
2023
American Craft Made / Baltimore, Emerging Artist Program, Baltimore, MD
2022
American Craft Made / Baltimore, Emerging Artist Program, Baltimore, MD
Portland Fine Crafts Show, Portland, ME
Paradise City Arts Festival, Fall Northampton, MA
2021
Southern Vermont Arts Center: Yester House 2021 Solo Exhibition, Manchester, VT
311 Gallery Exhibition: Best of the East, Raleigh, NC
Portland Fine Crafts Show, Portland, ME
Paradise City Arts Festival, Fall Northampton, MA
2020 (all events virtual)
Nordic Sól: A Celebration of Nordic Arts and Culture, Seattle, WA
Peter’s Valley School of Craft 50th Annual Craft Fair, Layton, NJ
AMOCA’s National Clay Open Studio and Sale, Pomona, CA
Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s Craft + Design Online, Richmond, VA
Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts A December to Remember, State College, PA
CraftBoston Holiday Online, Boston, MA
2019
CraftBoston Spring, Boston, MA
Named by Boston Common magazine as one of 4 Artists to Watch at This Spring’s CraftBoston Event
Paradise City Arts Festival, Spring Northampton, MA
Named as one of four Spring Northampton Directors’ Picks artists by show curators
Portland Fine Crafts Show, Portland, ME
Fall Crafts at Lyndhurst, Tarrytown, NY
Paradise City Arts Festival, Fall Northampton, MA
CraftWestport, Westport, CT
Southern Vermont Arts Center Holiday Market, Manchester, VT
CraftBoston Holiday, Boston, MA
2018
South Boston Holiday Market, Boston, MA
SoWa Winter Festival, Boston, MA
SoWa Open Market, Boston, MA
2016
Missouri Western State University Clay Guild: Twin Cups National Ceramics Exhibition, St. Joseph, MO
222 Cabot Gallery Holiday Show, Beverly, MA