Alma Allen’s Sculptural Meditation on Material and Touch
The artist unveils his inaugural Paris exhibition at Perrotin, presenting a contemplative body of work that emerges through intuitive engagement with stone, wood and metal. Each sculpture represents a dialogue between artist and material, where form reveals itself through patient discovery.
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There exists a particular grace in the act of making when the artist surrenders to what materials themselves wish to become. Alma Allen’s inaugural Paris exhibition at Perrotin embodies this philosophy with remarkable eloquence, presenting a carefully considered collection of sculptures that challenge our understanding of artistic intention and material possibility.
Working across stone, wood and metal, Allen engages in a profoundly tactile creative process that privileges touch as both method and meditation. Rather than imposing predetermined forms upon resistant materials, the artist allows each piece to emerge through a series of intuitive gestures and discoveries. Beginning with string, clay or wax, he shapes these elemental substances with his hands, permitting the work to teach him its own logic. This approach represents an inversion of conventional sculptural practice: instead of the artist commanding the material, a dialogue unfolds, one in which form reveals what was always latent within.
The resulting works possess an undeniable serenity, a quality that speaks to the contemplative nature of their creation. Each sculpture carries within its surfaces and contours the evidence of this patient investigation, the traces of a hand that sought not dominion but understanding. There is something deeply moving in this restraint, this refusal to impose and insistence instead upon revelation.
Allen’s materials themselves carry their own histories and presences. Stone arrives bearing geological time; wood carries the memory of growth and seasons; metal holds within its transformation the mark of elemental forces. By approaching these substances with such openness and respect, Allen positions himself as a kind of listener, attuned to what each material uniquely offers. The resulting sculptures stand as documents of this listening, testaments to a practice grounded in genuine encounter rather than ego or predetermined aesthetic.
The exhibition invites visitors into this world of careful observation and thoughtful making. Beyond the sculptures themselves, Perrotin offers an opportunity for deeper engagement: an opening reception on October 17 at 4pm provides the occasion to experience these works within the gallery’s refined setting, whilst a special artist talk on October 19 from 3pm to 4pm promises insight into Allen’s methodology and philosophical approach. Such occasions allow collectors and enthusiasts alike to enter into the contemplative spirit that animates this body of work.
Imagery courtesy of Perrotin (@perrotin).