I don't really know the answer to that. I know that I seem to be drawn to sad characters, the forlorn reject. Something about being on the outside. The outcast. But I also am intrigued by the super confident fool. He too is a reject. I'm not really interested in what's accepted by people. I like the things, places and characters that have been forsaken. On both sides of the field. The happy genius fool and the pathetic misfit. I guess I like drama.

No. I love/ hate it all. I get really sick of stuff quickly. I'm pretty fickle and I have a short attention span. So I like to move on from something pretty soon after I start it. That's why it's good that I have all these things to do. Painting, animation, drawing, sculpture, pottery, dance, music, cooking.

I over-indulge. I really just make work and I don't really think about it. I like to see the material move and breath, and melt. I don't like things to stay static.

My mom, aunt, uncle, everyone in my small family is a painter, or an artist of some kind. So I was painting my whole life, out doing landscape paintings around the beach where I grew up when I was 14-ish. Thus, painting was kind of not what I wanted to do for a while when I went to school, that's why I went to film school. Also the life as a painter just seemed a little too serious for me, but I've managed to make it what I want it to be for myself, I think. I have a healthy balance going on right now, hopefully. Also, my dad's an architect, that's probably where the animation bug came from -- making little worlds that you create and be supreme leader in, except mine are mini and made from wood and clay. I have always been drawn to fantasy worlds, theatrical worlds, hand-made worlds. This world doesn't always hold my attention for very long. But I also love animators and comedians. That's probably another reason I was drawn to animation.

I don't know if there's a story. It seems like there is. It's more of a non-narrative, but things definitely happen. There is a beginning, middle and end... to me.

So much... music, film. It's an endless list. Harryhausen, bruce bickford, klaus kinski, superjail, terry gilliam, eric yahnker, peter saul, andre butzer, armen eloyan, daniel richter, basil wolverton, crumb, balthus, ensor, van gogh, soutine, hockney, paul mccarthy, jan svankmajer, rankin bass, king kong, pina bausch, r. stevie moore, big business, upsilon acrux, lightning bolt, angel witch, venom, the earthmen, barbra streisand, the original production of a chorus line, slayer

I am a really bad story teller, I'd bore you.

I'm in a couple bands. The Singers is one. We're the best band in the world. Changing the face of music today. I eat cheeseburgers, drink whiskey, go dancing. Normal boring stuff. Painting and animation are both such solitary pursuits, I'm alone in a box with my own thoughts and creatures every every day, almost every hour. So I try and see human beings as much as I can. I'm in a constant struggle because I'm a loner, at the same time a glutten for attention, so I attempt to achieve a balance...

I'm in some group shows at Alexander and Bonin, McClain Gallery, Palod-Haroudin, Mike Weiss Gallery, Haifa Museum, etc... As we speak I am in a little black box for the next month filming a music video for Grizzly Bear, and I have a solo exhibition of my work at Mark Moore Gallery in Los Angeles opening Jan. 9, 2010.

Cowboys for footwear, Indians for headwear.

studio shots - underwoodpix.com
www.allisonschulnik.com {moscomment}