Elyse Allen
[2000, Textiles]
Based in New Mexico
Elyse Allen Textiles RISD Craft Gallery
I make fine knit accessories – hats, scarves, and fingerless gloves. I find the best materials I can, because they’re worth it and they last, and make the work by hand where I live because it’s better for the work and better for my neighborhood. I love to mix yarns, to play with colors and patterns, and to make them all explode a little bit with some sparkle and gleam. Cashmere gives beauty, warmth and durability; Swarovski crystals activate the surface, adding depth and motion. I try to make my pieces special to be near, like reuniting people with their long-lost favorite thing.
What are some of the most important practices for your creative process?
Meditation helps me create space needed for the creativity to arise. Hiking and walking in nature are also integral.
How does your current creative practice tie into your time spent at RISD?
The drawing and sketchbook practice are still an important part of my creative process. The freshman year full of Drawing class and the year in Rome with EHP (96-97) were really formative in learning to use drawing to work through ideas on paper.
Tell us about some of your main sources of inspiration.
Nature for color and pattern and traveling the wide world around!
Is there a work/body of work that you are particularly excited about sharing with us at RISD Craft this year?
I’m excited to show my new collection of colorful cashmere embellished fingerless gloves!
Anything else you’d like to share?
I recently left my home and studio in Manhattan and moved out to the beautiful desert in New Mexico!