Artist Statement

My sculptures are objects of obsession and accumulation built from the repetition of the hand, the stitch, and the caress. I utilize common textiles such as hosiery, latex, duct tape, ace bandages, dead plant matter, and cotton batting in addition to knitting my own textiles out of wire, hair, and thread.

Like my friends pet tarantula, which periodically spooks me even more than usual by seemingly performing mitosis and splitting into two identical spiders, these pieces are coming out of their skin, juxtaposing decay with growth. Underneath may be hollow and eaten away, but the skin is becoming something new

Bio

Alissa McCourt is an multidisciplinary artist and educator who received her MFA in Sculpture from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and her M.Ed in art education at the University of Minnesota.