Allison Smith: Piece Work brought together several strands of the artist’s varied and far-reaching practice, ranging from small works on paper, to sculpture, to an interactive installation, all of which emphasize how craft can function as a conceptual enterprise. Additionally, Smith created a large-scale braided rug, which was be completed over the course of the exhibition by visitors, teen interns, and volunteers. 

Smith’s work owes much to different American decorative arts’ traditions, and she selected the works on view because of their relationship to the craft traditions born specifically during the culture of wartime. As with quilts at a quilting bee, Fancy Work (Braided Rug) becomes a bi-product of the time spent by visitors swapping stories and sharing expertise as they craft the object itself. As the artist puts it, visitors are invited to ​“take history into their own hands,” as they learn a new skill and spend a moment sharing a conversation.

Allison Smith was born in 1972 in Manassas, Virginia. She received an MFA from Yale University and attended the Whitney Independent Studies program. She now teaches at California College of the Arts, San Francisco. Her work has been exhibited at MoMA PS1, New York and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. She lives and works in Oakland, California.