Photo Credit: Sandy Ramachandran & Haiyun Jiang
A Boston based artist, Alison Croney Moses creates wooden objects that reach out to your senses—the smell of cedar, the color of honey or the deep blue sea, the round form that signifies safety and warmth, the gentle curve that beckons to be touched.
Born and raised in North Carolina (USA), by Guyanese parents, making clothing, food, furniture, and art is embedded in her memories of childhood. She carries these values and habits into adulthood and parenting—creating experiences, conversations, and educational programs that cultivate the current and next generation of artists and leaders in art and craft. Her work is in the collections at Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She is a recipient of the 2023 Boston Artadia Award, the2022 USA Fellowship in Craft, and a finalist of the 2024 LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize. Her work has been featured in American Craft Magazine Boston Art Review. She was recently named one of the 2023 WBUR 10 Makers. In the Fall of 2023, Alison’s first solo was reviewed in the Boston Globe. Alison holds an MA in Sustainable Business & Communities from Goddard College, and a BFA in Furniture Design from Rhode Island School of Design.
Artist’s Statement
Trained as a furniture maker, my sculptures use a combination of timeless woodworking techniques, such as coopering and bent lamination, to create delicate, intricate shapes with a subtle nod to the female form.
My inspiration sometimes comes from the materials and processes themselves, capturing universal forms and impressions from nature and the human body. Other times, it come from photos, gatherings, and memories that serve as an impetus for my explorations of Black motherhood, where I examine my experiences of childhood and motherhood, reframing my memories for my children and my own healing.
I strive to create situations where people are compelled to interact, to express, and challenge themselves to heal, to stand taller, to build community, and to work toward a more just future. This occurs in a classroom where my presence shows that art and woodworking is a valid pursuit for young people who look like me or when I bring together mothers of color in Boston to build solidarity, support, and friendship while we navigate raising Black and Brown children to value their own identities in a white society, or it happens within people as they interact with my work, hopefully having a lasting impact that can be felt beyond that moment.