About the Artist

Allison Tunis has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Alberta, and a graduate diploma in Art Therapy from the Vancouver Art Therapy Institute. She works mainly in cross-stitch embroidery, but also has worked in mixed media involving acrylic painting and gel transfers, as well as self-publishing a body positive colouring book entitled Body Love: A Fat Activism Colouring Book, which can be found on Amazon in many countries.

Tunis is currently the Artist-in-Residence for Youth Empowerment and Support Services (YESS), on grant from the Edmonton Arts Council, working with high-risk youth in the Edmonton area to create art in a therapeutic and activist context, as well as creating her own body of work focusing on body diversity, feminism, and reducing weight-based and mental illness stigma. She has participated in the local art scene through group exhibitions such as #YEGBest_Artists, curated by the Alberta Society of Artists, in July 2017 and the Edmonton Arts Council's public art exhibition #YEGCanvas in late 2017-2018, and has had numerous digital and print articles written about her work over the last ten years. She is considered an emerging artist in Edmonton, and is a professional member of the Alberta Craft Council and the Canadian Art Therapy Association.
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Her pieces question our society’s obsession with aesthetic beauty and body conformity, while exploring her own struggle with body image. Her inspiration stems from contemporary feminist artists such as Tracey Emin, Jenny Saville, and Martha Rosler, as well as contemporary textile/embroidery artists such as Jenny Hart, Matthew Cox, Erin M. Riley, and Alicia Ross. Issues of feminism and intersectionality, diversity in media representation, and social constructions of beauty all influence Allison's work as an artist. 

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