Allen Frierson
Three years ago, Artist Allen Frierson (born 1996, Chicago), took his beautifully patterned drawings off paper and onto clay, and he hasn’t looked back since!
Frierson can’t concretely recall having an artist in the family, but he does know that his late mother, Altise Haines, was an artist in the kitchen. Her ability to take ingredients and entice them into unique and delectable meals are still remembered with mouth-watering accuracy to this day. Frierson doesn’t have the passion for cooking like his dear mother, but the family flair for creativity is clearly channeled into his art making.
Frierson immersed himself into freestyle sketching and doodling his freshman year of high school as a way to keep busy and calm. His pen would hit the paper and lead the way, inking intricate textures and details that have a foot in emotions, impressions and music. The lines respond to the sounds of EDM, hypno or anything with a good beat. The intuitive response on paper even became good enough to withstand the bumps and shakes of the Chicago CTA train system, a skill Frierson still carries to this day.
During his last year of education, (Frierson traveled far north to the Roger C. Sullivan High School) he took his first official art class, and he pulled straight A’s. He learned about famous artists (Picasso is a favorite) art history, color theory, and new techniques to refine his own craft. Frierson also attended a three-month course created by the Chicago Architectural Foundation. He and other young artists spent time observing the city’s unique architecture downtown and documenting it from many different angles. The Chicago Board of Trade building in the Loop remains one of Frierson’s favorites. The streamlined design and Art Deco details are still cemented in his mind. Many of his drawings feature grid-inspired designs and M.C. Escher-like structures that meld into and through each other. Cityscapes, street maps and urban elements all come together to form balanced yet undulating compositions.
Frierson joined Thresholds in his teens, and it helped transition him into becoming independent and finding his footing. One of his advisors stopped by the Lincoln Square Pottery Studio – Learning Center and sung his praises. Studio owner Meg Biddle took notice and invited Frierson in. For more than three years, he has been the studio caretaker, in so much that he volunteers, cleans and keeps the space in working order. At the same time he started working there, he was encouraged to take classes and spend time learning the art form. He started out hand-building, making small items like ashtrays and bowls, until he was able to create more complicated and larger pieces. Glazes in simple studio colors gave way to more sophisticated palettes. Biddle suggested he take his drawings off the page and apply them to the surfaces he was creating. The idea struck his fancy, and he started carving and scraping compositions onto the sides of his work. This allowed him to freestyle his flowing designs onto cups, vases and sculptural tiles. Then his confidence in glazing kicked in and he started to blend under, wonder and a variety of colorful glazes into his compositions. The artist also sketched with designer liner, and he used complimentary colors that gave the work an expansive feeling. Some pieces almost seem like they captured a universe, or unfolding landscape. The clay forms give him the ability to expand his vision, something a sheet of paper with corners hasn’t allowed.
Frierson stays thrilled with the ceramic process and decorations, but he also just loves being in the studio because of the people. He likes observing work form under other artists’ hands, and enjoys picking their brains about their process. Frierson is a self-described introvert, but when he’s at the studio, he is excited to touch base with people that love his work and care about his wellbeing. Biddle, who is officially his boss, is also a mentor and friend that takes time to give him advice and pointers on all things art (and life). It’s no wonder that one of Frierson’s favorite things to do at the studio is to co-create artwork. Collaborations generally run like this; someone creates and bisques a unique piece for Frieson to decorate. He dives in and fills the shape’s space with his interpretations. The end result is the best of both worlds- work that Frieson himself wouldn’t normally make, and delicate designs that the other artists couldn’t possibly dream up. He’s worked with artists like Richard Zeid, Mieke Zuiderweg and Rich Zimmerman. He looks forward to many more collaborations, especially ones made on the wheel (which he loves but dislikes cleaning up). He hopes some day a self-cleaning pottery wheel is created because he would be all over that.
Frierson says that joining the studio has been one of the best decisions in his life. The artist doesn’t like to leave his home much, but the pull of creating unique work as well as being part of an art community gets him up and out of the house. The connections make him feel good, and even if he doesn’t see eye-to-eye with someone, he is still thrilled to see their creative growth, as well as his own.