CRÉATEUR’s Unpublished Créative Alleson Buchanan
“I create neon art to connect to others - especially now, I long for connection. I find that connection is largely about how we make one another feel so I want my work to make someone feel something, anything. That’s a tall order for a neon sign, but I see neon as more than signage: The light has a way of warming us; drawing us in. I intentionally transform the traditional sign medium into an artistic experience.”
In Seattle, Alleson owns and manages Radiant Neon where she is a full-time neon artist and teaches. In Alleson’s recent work, she unravels myths that negatively portray women. Honoring the memory of our misunderstood goddesses by peeling back perpetuated falsehoods, layer by layer, and reframing what the patriarchy considered to be their faults as power strength. Alleson found her way to this series through her own study of the occult, astrology and histories of magic. This process lent her new eyes to see how damaging the patriarchy is for everyone, not only women.
“In my pursuit of community and connection, I found an incredible group of women and we formed an Astrology Coven. We spent two years on a deep dive together, familiarizing ourselves with astrological signs and mythological figures. My coven provided connection and inspired my recent astrology neon work and my “Misunderstood Goddesses” series. I created a larger than life neon zodiac birth chart to connect to the public through astrology. I’ve been diving deep on mythological characters like Lilith, who’s unyielding pursuit of liberation inspired my piece “Big Lilith energy.” It’s an honor to literally put her name in lights, dripping in velvet. I also pulled back the veil on Medusa’s story, to disentangle her legacy from the patriarchal shadow. Her story does not show us a hideous gorgon, petrifying everyone with her gaze. Instead it describes intersecting abuses of power: Victim blaming, hatred of women, and willful ignorance of withheld consent. I shed literal light on these incredible women and I hope it inspires femme identifying people to burn bright.”
The quote below is posted in Alleson’s studio, Radiant Neon, and she reads it everyday:
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through."
Alleson states how this quote proves to be overwhelmingly appropriate for neon. For the last 5 years Alleson has been breaking glass, remaking glass and pushing herself to make something that meets her “taste standard.” The quote above has offered fuel to her practice and helped grant grace through process.
