BIOGRAPHY

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Standing proud in a red cap and gown, Alison Galvan, a Canadian Westcoast girl, graduated from Parsons School of Design in 1993. She had spent four years in both New York and Paris studying art and was now returning home to British Columbia, Canada to start her first of many businesses. A children’s wear design company she called Alioops.

Three years later, Alison, always with itchy feet, and a penchant for travel, set off to spend the holidays in New Orleans, Louisiana, unexpectedly meeting, and falling in love with her husband while sailing down the Mississippi River on a ten-day cruise. 

A romantic whirlwind commenced and the next year saw her spending time in India and the Philippines and ultimately getting married in the Visayas region of this warm and friendly country. 

Returning back to Canada, Alison and her husband began a family and it was during this time that, while homeschooling her children, Alison’s work, inspired by her children, began to reflect a childlike sense of fun often utilizing a playful colour palette.

 This quickly changed when in 2010 Alison and her family made a decisive move across the country in support of their daughter studying dance at The National Ballet School.    

Ensconced in Ontario culture, or in her mind, the lack thereof, Alison’s work changed and she found herself creating art not out of creative inspiration, but for financial gain alone. Sticking with landscapes and Canadiana, it was boring, but profitable drivel. This was how she thought of it.

Then in 2017, her children grown, Alison and her husband made the bold and risky move of selling their home and opening a restaurant. 

This was the opportunity she had been waiting for and Alison utilized the restaurant as her gallery showcasing not only paintings, but also sculpted mobile installations that she motorized and hung throughout the restaurant ceiling capturing the attention of not only the local foodies, but also art collectors and celebrities alike. 

 Awards and recognition came their way and very quickly the gamble paid off. Living above the restaurant, investing all of their successes, Alison and her husband, once again made an audacious move and selling their business, they ditched all their possessions, heading to South America for a new life in 2024. 

 Early retirement. It was a dream come true. They bought a condo, furnished it with beautiful local pieces, spent their days hiking, exploring, painting and cooking. All was perfect, until quite suddenly it was not.  

Pancreatic Cancer. Stage 4. 4-6 weeks.

Alison’s husband didn’t make it that long. He died three and a half weeks later. Her world imploded and, in her words, “my heart feels raped.” The life they had planned was no more. Their future stolen.

In the days since Alison has had time to meditate on her next chapter, and reflecting, she says…

“I've been a fool. Like a child playing house, I've been playing at Artist. Creating what I believed people wanted. Keeping my soul safely tucked away from any critique.”

Nothing like having your heart ripped from your chest and squeezed under the boot of death to shake you out of this passive reverie.

In grief she finally gets the message.

She is stepping into her light. 

Today Alison lives in Cuenca, Ecuador. Her art, her life, and the shadow of sadness her inspiration. Exposed, vulnerable and raw, Alison creates art that has been gouged from her soul. The canvases alight with the energetic representation of the gut-wrenching cost of death and the impact on the self as one sets about seeking solace. 

Fool no more. All pretense set aside; Alison creates to live before she dies.