Allegory

Artist list

Amy Haskins

al·le·go·ry
Pronunciation: \ a-l?- g o? r-e\
Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural al·le·go·ries
Etymology: Middle English allegorie, from Latin allegoria, from Greek allegoria, from allegorein to speak figuratively, from allos other + -egorein to speak publicly, from agora assembly
1 : the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence ; also : an instance (as in a story or painting) of such expression
2 : a symbolic representation

The body of work contained in Allegory stems from my ongoing fascination with ornament and how it simultaneously defines/codifies cultural ideas of beauty while more subtly elucidating social morals, taste, and class distinctions. I wanted to use the ornamental, the decorative, as a representative social framework to help illustrate some of the more tangential, poetic bits in a handful of fairytales -- in particular, parts pertaining to shades of truth. i am drawn to a sense of beauty mixed with fear. The dark found in the light and the light found in the dark. 

AMY HASKINS 2008