Bio & Artist Statement

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 “They are of me and will always be a part of me, my heart and my soul... “

A fine art graduate of Parsons School of Design in 1993, Alison Galvan has had the good fortune to have lived and created art from coast to coast in her home country of Canada, as well as in New York, Paris, France, the Philippines, India, and now, for the first time, in Cuenca, Ecuador.

All of her experiences abroad have informed and shaped her creative process, but, in this new chapter, on page one, it was the love of a young Ecuadorian mother dropping down to kiss the soft downy cheek of her child that has inspired Alison’s latest work. 

Wholesome and beautiful, Alison was struck by the fact that this exchange, as lovely as it was, was not unique to this mother and that child. No, this mother's love plays out daily in every corner of the world. It is the universality of motherhood.

Perhaps it is the distance she now finds herself from her own two adult children that has heightened her awareness and appreciation for all that is this magnificent thing called motherhood, but for Alison Galvan, this new life on a new continent in a new country, in a new and exquisitely beautiful city brings nothing but joy to her heart.  

And yet motherhood is the toughest job.

Setting boundaries, while letting go. Teaching, while allowing mistakes.

We must trust ourselves with no reference manual and no prior experience.

It is the most strenuous work with the greatest reward. In one moment allowing you the joy of revisiting your inner child, and in the next, through sheer exhaustion, your inner senior. But what mother would ever change a thing? 

“While it is I that have flown the nest, this, the second half of my life, I dedicate to telling the story of my love for my children.”

This you can see springing forth in the bright vivid acrylic colours that are leaping from her brush to the canvas. The passion and friendship of the culture that has welcomed her expressed in organic and geometric shapes reflecting the complex dance of hard and soft , rigid and fluidity  that is the maternal balancing act

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Yes, Alison Galvan, happy in her new home, excitedly paints her heart's images adding new pages and another new chapter to her personal story book.

“Though countries may separate us, and emotions run bittersweet, my children, my greatest challenge, and my greatest triumph. They are my masterpiece and I paint to express my love for them in my new home that has welcomed me wholeheartedly.”