Allyson Levy
Whereas art and life are mere imitations of each other, I can echo that sentiment loudly from my own
forest.
After relocating to rural upstate New York 21 years ago my life has become completely informed and
inspired by my interaction with the plant kingdom. So much so that I became a commercial
landscaper , grow a large amount of my own food. and started a botanical garden with my husband.
Hortus Arboretum & Botanical Gardrens is a Level II Arboretum, specializing in rare plants from
around the world. Our goal is for our gardens to be a “Living Textbook” of the diversity of life that can
be grown in the Hudson Valley of N.Y. (Hortusgardens.org )
My art has also followed my life interests using plants as a wellspring for inspiration. My current body
of work deals with the properties of found organic materials at various times of the year. It also deals
with the processes those materials undergo through nature's transitions; decomposition, sunlight,
wind, insects, etc
By combining natural materials with wax I am trying to capture human-animal interaction with nature.
The treatment of these organic materials along with various techniques of encaustic painting will
convey the feeling of particular moments of time and how they reflect human emotions. From sprout
to decay, you the viewer are visually confronted with the profoundly beautiful , devastating and
inevitable life cycle.
My paintings are my attempt to portray and perhaps find beauty and solace in these brief moments.
Allyson Levy 2021