Artist: Allison Schulnik

Synopsis: Dozens of lumpy, ghoulish figures — crudely made mostly of clay, fabric, feathers and other materials — dance, gesture and undergo all sorts of changes to the heart-tugging sound of “It’s Raining Today,” a 1969 recording by Scott Walker. The clay, which is mainly white but with color marbled into it, is in constant motion, as if imbued with a manic agency of its own, apart from the figures and objects it represents.

Bio: Allison Schulnik is a painter, sculptor, and filmmaker who lives and works in Los Angeles. Born in 1978, she graduated CalArts in 2000 with a BFA in experimental animation. Her paintings have been exhibited in galleries internationally and at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, the Santa Monica Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. She was recently selected as one of the “Ones to Watch” by Art Review. She is the author of two clay-mation videos, Hobo Clown and Forest, which are also music videos for the world renowned and critically acclaimed band Grizzly Bear.

Still from Mound, 2011. Photo courtesy of the artist and ZieherSmith, New York.