Alyson Borycki Artist Biography

Alyson Borycki is a self-taught artist creating dynamic and playful abstract paintings. She uses joyful color palettes, acrylic layers, and the interaction between shapes and lines to create both tension and harmony within her work. Using her art practice as a means of self-discovery, Alyson draws deeply and vulnerably from her experiences and emotions, focusing on themes of identity, community, and sense of place. Born and raised in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, Alyson received her degrees in Commerce and Education and worked as a schoolteacher before becoming a full-time artist. She currently works out of her home studio in Toronto, Canada.

Statement

I like to think of my art process as a practice of storytelling—every piece is an expression of my thoughts and my path at any given time. I am especially interested in how our surroundings and sense of place can inform our identity, both personally and as larger communities. Our physical environments are not just a backdrop to our lives, but our memories of and experiences with place can affect how we view our present and future selves and the world.

I am inspired by cityscapes and architecture, but also the flow of the natural world. Drawing from the shapes, patterns, and feelings experienced in both natural and urban settings, I aim to communicate a sense of curiosity, growth, and momentum balanced with contentment and grounding. The juxtaposition of looser, organic shapes with more structured lines and geometry elicits a range of emotional experiences that I enjoy exploring in my practice. I love to play with the notion that we all hold many different, sometimes opposite, attributes that can exist beautifully and uniquely, all at the same time. I perceive the interaction and overlap of our unique experiences and perspectives as what weaves together the diverse threads of our communities, and my work also examines how we connect this way as a broader whole.