Originally from Lubbock, Texas, Emily Allison later moved to the Austin area, where she began exploring three-dimensional soft sculpture. Her work quickly evolved into a distinctive blend of recycled materials and figurative forms, and she eventually established a studio in Taos, New Mexico. It was there she spent twenty-five years refining her sculptural style, first through soft sculpture and then with papier-mâché. She gradually expanded into a broader array of characters, including cowboys and, most often, female figures. In 2001, Emily relocated to Primm Springs, Tennessee, where she continues to create in her home studio. Her work has steadily gained recognition throughout the region.

Emily’s artistic voice is deeply rooted in her love of form and material. “I just prefer three-dimensional to two-dimensional,” she says. “Even my two-dimensional work doesn’t stay that way—it comes up from the surface.” She has always been drawn to figurative work and finds joy in capturing the personality and emotion of human forms.

A self-proclaimed lover of “junk,” Emily’s work is also a celebration of reuse and reinvention. “I like to recycle things,” she explains. “I like to take things you’re familiar with and use them, but not in a way that you recognize them at first… I want you to look at it a little while and then realize, ‘Wait a minute. I’ve got one of those in the back of the cupboard.’” Her sculptures often include unexpected found objects—wooden spindles, wire, old dishes—and are built around a core medium of papier-mâché, using recycled paper, junk mail, envelopes, books and magazines.

Emily hopes her work brings a moment of joy and reflection to others. “I hope it makes them smile,” she says. “Maybe serenity is the more correct word... I hope it lightens someone’s day.” 

To Emily, art isn’t limited to what hangs in galleries: “Art is anything you put your love into,” she says. “It could be the garden; it could be cooking. Many things could be your art.”