Alisa Looney

Artist Statement

It is my highest goal to create sculpture that brings empowerment, joy and connection to communities in public and private environments. I shape and fabricate metal into open, energetic human form, representing movement and the expression of life.

Choosing From Within Powder Coated Steel 78.5”hx61”wx36”d Currently Exhibiting on Camano Island, WA Matze Fine Arts Sculpture Park Available $19,000 Choosing From Within represents the authentic moment of choice, when we say Yes! to life. When we trust our inner wisdom to set up healthy boundaries, this allows an opening to create new possibilities. Deep red colorsuggestslisteningtotheheart. –photobyKerryDavisPhotography

The flow of this life energy is depicted in my work using curving forms with spiraling cut-outs, creating a dynamic movement within the human body. Carefully designed shapes of metal and the open spaces between them, play against each other to create the form, with stylized details of muscles in motion. Pieces are cut and shaped from sheets of steel, bronze or stainless. Planes are welded and built from the center out. The open shapes create lightness in the metal, allowing the form to feel as if it is moving through space freely, unbounded.

Roll & Play Powder Coated Steel 36″h x 75″w x 22″d Maryhill Museum of Art – Outdoor Sculpture Collection, Gift of the North Star Foundation Feature Sculpture on New Plaza overlooking the Columbia River Gorge Roll & Play invites the viewer to feel the freedom we feel when we roll around and play on the floor or in the grass. I created this piece to remind us to enjoy our lives, and make time for play, like we did so naturally as children. I chose yellow because it is a playful color, and reminds one of the color of sunflowers, and the brightest days of life.

I draw from years of experimental dance and movement, the place where I find my greatest moments of free expression. The spiraling motion reflects the flow of water around rocks and along the banks of the Idaho River where I grew up. I see the river as metaphor for the energy I feel in my body, while dancing, flowing from the center, out my limbs. Observing dance, I capture moments, shapes between movements, spaces between bodies, in gesture drawings and paintings. I transform these images into 3 dimensional designs, and then transfer patterns to metal in the fabrication process. Finish varies depending on piece: natural, patina, paint, powder coat or enamel (glass) on steel. I enjoy working with the pliability and strength of metal, cutting and shaping it into permanent forms that will last through time. I work in many sizes, from tabletop pieces, to life size and larger, creating public sculptures that can be viewed by people from all walks of life. It is my hope to inspire others to be fully self-expressed in their lives.

Taking Flight Powder Coated Steel 96.5″h x 35″w x 44″d Currently Exhibiting in Palm Desert, CA El Paseo Sculpture Invitational 2013/2014 Available $19,000 Taking Flight represents our deep connection to nature. As the bird takes flight from the top of his hand, man also takes flight energetically, while physically staying grounded and strong. Both human and bird have energy moving through their bodies, reminiscent of the flow of water in a river, the source of all life. The bird as messenger leads man into his joy. Powder coated blue to bring attention to our deep connection to nature, open skies and free flowing rivers.

Artist Bio

Alisa Looney is a sculptor, dancer, painter and designer. Alisa received her BFA from Boise State University in 1983. She has been a professional designer and fine artist since 1981 and presently owns Vision Design in Portland, OR. At the age of four, Alisa began drawing and building with clay and sand on the banks of the Spokane River, in Northern Idaho. She fell in love with metal arts as a silver smith in her early years and began welding in 1998. With her public sculptures, Alisa has won People’s Choice Purchase Awards in Lake Oswego, OR, Cannon Beach, OR, and in Puyallup, WA. Maryhill Museum of Art in Goldendale, WA, renowned for their extensive Rodin collection, acquired “Roll & Play” in 2008 and selected it as the feature sculpture on the Plaza of their new Mary and Bruce Stevenson wing in 2012. Her proposal for “Taking Flight” was selected for the El Paseo Sculpture Invitational 2013/2014, in Palm Desert, CA. She is a member of the International Sculpture Center and Pacific NW Sculptors and is the Regional Coordinator of RADIX, Circle of Women in the Arts. Alisa resides in Portland, OR, with her husband, artist Wade Womack and their son Finn.

Contact II (bench) Powder Coated Steel 47″h x 72.5″w x 35″d Available $17,000 Contact II (bench) – A place for people to gather, pause, and connect with each other. Created to nurture relationships, and to inspire new possibilities of playful connection. Relationships are the primary source of comfort, joy and depth in our lives. This “sunshine” yellow sculpture was created to celebrate these sacred moments of connection. – photo by Kerry Davis Photography Award Winning Design: Contact No. 1 (bench), the first in this series, won the People’s choice purchase award in 2009, Sculpture Without Walls, City of Cannon Beach, Oregon.