Ambrosine Allen

Ambrosine Allen’s landscapes are meticulously assembled using layer upon layer of tiny paper cuttings. Often epic in scope but with a detailed aesthetic that references 17th- and 18th-century engravings, Allen’s collages depict fantastical scenes of a world in turmoil, violently shaped by the destructive power of nature and the self-destructive force of mankind.

In March, Allen will be responding to the DOLPH brief with The Art Of The Small, an exhibition exploring a key selection of the subjects and processes that feed into her practice. It will begin with something that sits at the centre of her work – the very small. 

“The miniature has always had an allure for me, its intrinsic qualities can draw you in with awe, but there is also its ability to reach out and act upon the world – to provoke reactions that far outreach any physical size. This exhibition celebrates the art of small things but also explores the breadth of where this has taken me in my own work: to the habit of endurance that comes from working with the miniscule, the importance of relative scale and finally to the power of landscape as an expressive vehicle for changing philosophies on nature.”