Allyson Pinon

Allyson Pinon is an artist based in Brooklyn, NY who holds a BFA in photography from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her work explores human experience, understanding, and connotation within the context of contemporary society. She is interested in trying to better understand the diverse ways that people perceive and experience the world and, in turn, the similarities in experiences that arise despite an immense multiplicity of viewpoints. Through these studies, she attempts to search for commonalities and connections within largely universal human experiences like aging, loss, and memory. Her work has been exhibited internationally in Switzerland, Paris, Los Angeles, and other various cities throughout the United States.

In Memory

When I was younger my mother used to tell me a story about a ghost that lived in her childhood home. She saw him from time to time but could say nothing of his appearance aside from the fact that he was an older man who wore wing-tip shoes. She told me that one night he came to her around midnight. He looked at her from the doorway of her bedroom with a smile and said, “Everything will be alright as long as you can remember…”. The house she was referring to has been in our family since the mid-twentieth century and my parents still live there today, after inheriting the house from my late grandparents. My mother will still recall this story every now and again, when the mood strikes her. She always ends it the same way: “He lied.”

I’ve always been fascinated with memories. How they twist and bend and change over time. How it always seems that each memory is never quite the same, each time one recalls it. How sometimes the harder you try to grasp one, often the further away it seems to move into the recesses of the mind.

As I get older the concept of memory gets more important and more complicated, as the memories build and change shape with time. My relationship with memory has always been complex; as a stroke 20 years ago nearly obliterated my mom’s capacity to remember anything short-term. This circumstance instilled an urge within me to document as much as possible. So that neither of us would be able to forget.

To view more of Allyson’s work please visit her website.