As an artist and a person I am discovering what is real, what is true, and what differences there are between those states. Creating with my hands is both real and true, and this fact has driven my investment in a variety of mediums and conceptual frameworks. I primarily work in blown glass, pottery, wood fabrication, and found objects that come from the home or just outside of it. Through adherence and respect to craft processes, I create vessels, structures, and frames that support unlikely material interactions. These interactions pose a different functionality from the craft they rely on. They are stand-ins for the inexplicable—feelings that can’t be described, gaps in logic, and bewilderment at reality. My object choices, forms, and attraction to craft are informed by my relationship to meritocracy, my disconnection from nature, and the microcosm of my American family.
Human and earthly natures are indefinitely entangled in the American dream of surveillance, war, taxes, pollution, insurance, and the belief that some people need to shave their legs. Unfortunately, we rely on these constructs to have packed grocery stores, access to unlimited knowledge, and institutions that support us while we create art. My practice encourages critical understanding of this contemporary social contract. Living in this dissonance makes me question what is natural and what is real. What do I need that is real? What do I need that isn’t real? What do I need so badly it may as well be real?
© 2026 Alison Kraniske. All images courtesy of the artist unless otherwise noted.