TCA Explores Movement

TCA Explores Movement from Colleen Allen on Vimeo.

a few weeks ago, a dance company took over the museum of contemporary art and the teen creative agency and i were invited to interact with the performers. i created this video as a compilation of all of our explorations from that day.

deep (sea) house

one of my best friends, tara is an amazing dj. she loves deep sea creatures, and deep house music. so i photoshopped this picture of her combing the two for her birthday. 

when i wasn't looking

recently, i've had two different pictures taken of me, both in black and white, when i wasn't paying attention, and while i was writing. and i really love both of them. the first was taken while i was writing in chalk on the steps of the museum of contemporary art chicago and the other was during a free write in my creative writing class. 

death and the maiden: part three

Death and the Maiden: Part 3

The creation of “Death and the Maiden” was an extremely personal experience. Because of this, I felt it was necessary that the final stage was to apply these rituals to myself. I dressed in the scraps of the buried gown, and held the pieces together by wrapping myself in the same golden twine as the skeleton. I continued to wind the thread around me until my limbs were securely bound. The thread cut into my skin, leaving my legs and arms deformed. Ironically, my hands and fingers were tied together in a prayerful state. I photographed these progressive stages of oppression until I was overcome by a new state of paralysis. The final photograph captures me as I look down at the skeleton, seeing my spiritual self bound. This human representation of my religious life was now in a grotesque, inhuman form. 

death and the maiden: part one

skeleton from Colleen Allen on Vimeo.

Throughout my four years of Catholic high school, there is one issue that has been greatly ignored: the oppression of women in the Catholic Church. The relationship between the Church and women resembles that of my creation of “Death and the Maiden”. Through its obsession with male hierarchy, the Catholic Church doctrine has become death itself, oppressing women who are trapped in the role of the helpless maiden. Catholic authority figures and Church members feel if these roles change, it will jeopardize their chance of life after death. 

Four hundred years ago, when Catholic martyrs died, nuns had to spend up to four years adorning the dead with precious jewels. My reenactment of this four-year labor mirrors my four-year experience at a Catholic high school. The skeleton is a representation of my faith, which I prepare for burial. These rituals started out as a beautiful and positive part of my life, and are represented by the white flowers of innocence and pink flowers of femininity with which I adorn my skeleton. I then wrapped the skeleton in gold twine to symbolize the restrictive teachings of my school as they pushed me to accept their doctrines. In the end, the skeleton takes on an inhuman form, fully overcome by the unnatural golden materials. The organic materials rot, and that which was beautiful becomes decrepit. 

death and the maiden: part two

buried from Colleen Allen on Vimeo.

Death and the Maiden: Part 2 Through Catholic tradition, women are taught that our bodies and the decisions regarding them are not our own. Eve was created through the rib of Adam, and therefore, man has a say in what happens to the female body. Today, the decisions made by male authority figures in regards to pregnancy seem to treat the health of the woman as secondary. Ultimately, the Catholic Church’s need to enforce doctrine causes the deconstruction and decay of the female form. I represented this decay by burying my own gown in a forest. After the gown had endured rain, snow, and heat, I unearthed it six months later to examine the affects of the decay. The gown was covered in mud, and plants were growing from its hem. As I pulled it from the ground, I found the gown had come apart at the seams. The lining was separated from the outer shell, the top and bottom were now two pieces, and even the the zipper and ruffle straps were completely detached. In this exercise, death is the earth, and the gown is the maiden. As the gown is pulled from the earth, the destructive affects death has on the maiden are revealed.

lambskin

forever

girls just want to have fun

i see first lots of things which dance. then everything becomes gradually connected.

mixed media incorporating my own sketches, photos, and poetry as well as photos and quotes form magazines and the internet 

pink matter

21 minus

these photos are all from the museum of contemporary art "21 minus" event. it was hosted by the the museum's teen creative agency and inspired me to apply for the group. i am so excited to be a part of the tca for the 2013-2014 season and work with amazing young chicago artists.

graphic inspiration

at parsons i learned how to create inspiration boards through photoshop. this was one of my favorites for my homeless collection. 

the greenhouse

 (b/w 35 mm film photography by momo chapa)
while photographing the dress i made at parsons, we took some photos on my film camera. whenever i take film photos i never edit them. these photos have been left uncropped as well. so many digital photos are over edited and i like the raw quality that film has.

designer spotlight

it's been amazing working with shopmidnightmarauder.com. I just wanted to say a huge thank you to them for choosing me for their latest designer spotlight!

click the link below to view the full interview. 

http://shopmidnightmarauders.com/blogs/midnight-marauders/8307834-designer-spotlight-colleen-allen

shop now!

my designs for "revive" with midnight marauders is finally here. click the link below to shop the collection now!

http://shopmidnightmarauders.com/collections/revive

get free shipping with any order over $50! (u.s. only)

parsons summer 2013

the above photos are the final product of the construction aspect of my parsons project. i created both the dress and leather vest. (heels are alexander wang). photography by momo chapa.