* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
Allen Egan was born in 1962 in Zimbabwe and now lives and works in Canada. Allen started to paint in oils at the age of 17, and went on to study graphic design at Harare Polytechnic. He then worked as a Graphic Designer, which he believes was good formal training in the elements of layout and design, elements that Allen feels are important in his paintings today.
Allen explains his work by saying, “These works continue my tradition of exploring the human figure in a variety of guises and environments. In past paintings I have almost exclusively painted myself in similar environments but in this series, however, I have chosen to use my children as my models. My mandate for this series of works was to use my children as serious painterly subject matter, whilst attempting to avoid the possibility that they may appear kitsch. I did this by using an illustrative approach to my technique as well as using simple props and painting them in wild and remote places to give a sense of mystery and emotion.It is my habit to avoid paintings that are layered with political meaning but rather to make paintings that are impulsive and spontaneous. They are not charged with any specific political motive but rather they are intended to give the viewer the opportunity to decide for themselves the potential stories that the paintings evoke. They are like a single frame in a movie. One does not know what came before and likewise one does not know what the outcome may be. They are short stories.”
