We are so lucky to have such a talented Poe Parent. When she lived in Sweden, she fell in love with the rugged landscape and captured it beautifully in this print. At shows, the gallery displays both this print and the other one on sale at Poe Auction.

Artist: Missy Gaido Allen
Title: Untitled from the series, Islands of Stability
Medium: Ink-jet pigment print on archival cotton rag
Date: 2016
Measurements: 11.25 x 11.25 inches printed area; 20.5 x 20.5 inches framed area

Koelsch Gallery price: $450 each

Artist's statement:

Islands of Stability: Images from the Stockholm Region

This exhibition borrows its title from Theoretical Physics, and it should be noted that the "Island of Stability" does not exist. It is a hypothesis that an isotope heavier than Uranium with a half-life of days or weeks--even years--could be manufactured to exist in opposition to the instable heavy elements which are currently known. Thus the Island of Stability would be something super-heavy, yet relatively stable...and heavy and stable is exactly what I found in Sweden. The thousands of islands that make up the Stockholm region (including the archipelago) are composed of granite and gneiss, two extremely heavy and extremely stable materials. They in turn provide an excellent ground for lichen. And, as Stockholm is a city, similar to Venice, that is composed of islands connected by dozens of bridges, water frequently dominates the landscape. Water, granite, gneiss and lichen--they are my primary subjects in this series. Heavy yet stable; fragile yet timeless.

Bio:

Born in Houston, Texas in 1968, Allen studied Studio Art and Art History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and at Trinity College in Rome, Italy. She also attended the Museum of Fine Art Houston's Alfred C. Glassell School for photography. Allen's work can be found at koelsch gallery in Houston, Texas, and Photo-eye Gallery and Argus Gallery online. Her images are in the permanent collections of the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and multiple private collections. Her work has been displayed in conjunction with Fotofest '98, Fotofest 2000, and Fotofest 2016, and select images have been licensed by Sony, Hasselblad, and Apple. She was an Artist-in-Residence for the National Parks Service in 2012. In addition to her photographic studies, Allen also earned a Master's in Art History from Rice University and a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Iowa.
She has recently returned to the United States after living in Sweden, and currently lives in Texas with her family.