Meet Allison Honeycutt | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Allison Honeycutt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Allison, we’d love to hear what makes you happy.
What makes me happy: a cool breeze, a sunbeam through a prism casting a rainbow streak, the rustic facade of a building with the paint faded just so, the sound of water, a special rock, an interesting stick, a delightfully knotted ball of string, the face of an animal relaxing, a plant creeping toward the sun, piles, a wind chime, a bird song, a leaf crunch, a woodland path, the ocean, the smell of pine, the smell of rain, colors working together, an odd texture, awkward balance, a quiet moment, a thick memory, love, a project that is clicking, an unexpected laugh, putting energy into something and watching it grow, something weird, beautiful decay, attaching one object to another, sifting through sand, seasons, every object in its place, shadows, comfortable underwear, a bee rolling in pollen, things very small, things very large, relief, working with my hands. All these things are experiences that tether me to the moment and bring me to myself, feed my creativity and inform what I do.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I like to create in a variety of mediums, but what I think ties all my work together is on a level of texture, color, and sacred absurdity. I like to make work that is beautiful and strange, I strive for a quality of divine awkwardness. At the moment I have few series of work that I dance between, depending on my inspiration. I continue to work on my Fleshsuits and Skins series that involve costumes and wall pieces that explore false nudity, flesh, hair, the gorgeous weirdness of the human body in general. I am also working on a series titled Grief Bonnets, which are based in prairie style bonnets made of fabric and textiles that I am using to dig into the subject of grief and grieving on individual and societal levels. Another series that I am currently adding to is my Truck ( How Much Cargo) series in which I take small toy pickup trucks, or more recently miniature toy pickup trucks and over fill them with stacks/piles of objects/materials to create little sculptures of impossible balance. And finally the most recent series that I have just started are series of small woven pieces that I am making on a very simple home made hand loom. I am using mostly wool, various yarn/cloth and acrylic hair to create them, but will most likely expand to other materials if this series picks up steam. I am beginning to develop pieces that integrate my different series together, particularly my Fleshsuits with Grief Bonnets. I have learned that the most damaging thing to ones creativity and art practice is to compare yourself to other creatives. The fact is there will always be someone that you can do something that you can’t and visa versa, even in the sense of a studio practice I think it is very important to find your personal rhythm and seasons to your making. Some people need to work everyday, some ( like me) work in intense bursts and then need time away from the studio to incubate and collect their thoughts, feelings, and energy for the next big burst ( and I am sure there are many other creative patterns people adhere to that lie in between and outside of these two examples). I’ve chosen to make investigation the center of my work, I am digging for aesthetic epiphany.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’ll try to think of this LA tour as a pre or post Pandemic adventure… I honestly have to think for a minute because I haven’t let myself think about these types of activities lately!! I’m using the LA “area” since a lot of the things that delight me here are not all in LA proper/ LA county. Monday: The beach, my favorite to show people who are visiting is El Matador in Malibu area. It’s got some beautiful rock formations and I once found an amazing bright orange shell there that was the size of my hand when my Dad was visiting. You might even see some dolphins! Tuesday: The Huntington Gardens for the day. I love the Huntington, and its definitely a place you want to plan to spend some hours at, so I would try to get there in the morning. The gardens themselves are beautiful and enough to delight just walking through, but they also have libraries, art galleries and architecture that are not to be missed! and there is a cute little restaurant to grab lunch in the Japanese garden, or tea in the Rose Garden Tea Room. Wednesday: Art! LA has so many galleries and museums you could spend the whole week bopping around trying to see them all. I would probably take my friends downtown to get the most bang for our buck. Start with the Broad and the MOCA ( great gift shop) and then do Hauser & Wirth ( great book store), and then peek into some of the galleries near by in the Arts District (Over The Influence, The Box, DENK Gallery to name a few). Then do Wurstekuche for lunch/dinner and Pie Hole for dessert. There are also a lot of expensive boutiques in the area to browse through for fun. Thursday: The Magic Castle for dinner and shows. The Magic Castle is a “private” club for magicians where they hang out, do performances and practice new tricks for the audience. Try to get an early reservation for dinner so that you have plenty of time to explore the place between shows…. if you like magic even a little bit this place is like nothing else! The only catch is that you have to get invited by a Magician…. Friday: Take a hike. There are lots of great places to hike in LA but some of my favorite are in the mountains near Alta Dena/Sierra Madre like Chantry Flat. It’s up on the mountain so the air is very fresh, there are big beautiful trees and if you go in the winter/spring a couple sweet waterfalls to check out. Saturday: Bob Bakers Marionettes. This is honestly one of the most magical places I’ve found in LA, The Bob Baker Marionette Theater does rotating shows all year round using original marionettes and music from the 60’s. It is absolutely charming, you can see a children’s show almost any day of the week, or about once a month they host a comedy variety show for adults in the theater that features marionette acts. It is currently in Highland Park on York Ave, so there is also lots of good food ( Ramen of York and Donut Friend to just name a couple favorites), and lots of cute stores to shop at, just a block or two up the way. Sunday: Atwater Village is another area I really like, you can walk along the LA River and see Herons, Cranes, Egrets, Egyption Geese, King Fishers, Cormorants, Hawks, and I’ve even seen an Osprey! Along Glendale Blvd. there are lots of places to eat and shop. I always bring my friends to Runway Outlet because they have a really nice selection of current clothes by primarily LA designers ( at a discount because they are often overstock or samples), and The Attic for fantastic vintage wears. Then I would probably grab food at Palette ( on Glendale Blvd) or India Sweets and Spices on Los Feliz Blvd. ( India Sweets and Spices also has a great Indian grocery store attached). If I’m looking for a good baked good I would swing by The Village Bakery ( also on Los Feliz Blvd.).

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people and things that I could give credit to for helping me along the way, but what keeps coming to mind right now is my Godfather Hada ( aka Don Potts). He was a very prolific and celebrated artist, but by the time I got to know him he had given up the commercial aspect of his art practice and had evolved it into every aspect of his life especially his spiritual life. He taught me a lot just by observing the way he lived his life, he supported my art making and always gave me an honest critique. He showed me that being a successful artist is, in essence more about being true to yourself than anything else.

Website: www.allisonhoneycutt.com
Instagram: @allisonhoneycutthunt @honeycuttart

Image Credits
Allison Honeycutt