Regina Allen
Austin, TX
I’m a painter and collage artist whose work weaves together mythology, art history, and legend with a deep reverence for nature and its sacred potential.
Message
I grew up in the verdant hills of Nashville, Tennessee, and studied painting in college and graduate school. I hold an MFA from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, and a BFA from WashU in St. Louis. My work has been exhibited in galleries across the country and was featured in issue #60 of New American Paintings. It is included in numerous private collections, and my painting Lake Travis is part of the City of Austin Library’s permanent collection.
I’ve taught art at a range of colleges and universities nationwide, and I currently serve as Professor of Art at Central Texas College in Killeen, Texas. I live in Austin with my husband, writer Neal Pollack, and our very silly Boston Terrier, Visenya.
Statement
My art immerses the viewer in an enchanted world of numinous landscapes and mythological, divine, and folkloric figures. I reinterpret ancient or arcane imagery into modern natural landscapes to create liminal space and reconsider notions of female power. It is whimsical, thoughtful and mystical in equal measure, melding my life-long interest in mythology, art history, and legend with a love of nature and its sacred potential.
The landscape imagery in my work comes from my personal experiences in nature. I begin with thousands of photos I’ve collected over my years of traveling the U.S. and world. I combine these photos, my memory, and my imagination, to create works that reflect my transcendent experience in nature.
The feminine archetypes and icons that I weave into the landscapes illuminate the sacredness of these ancient spaces, summoning ancient spirits and creating fantastical scenery. I hold the tenacity of nature in awe. In this work I pay tribute to and channel its sublime and transformative power.