Theodora Allen’s atmospheric oil paintings on linen depict natural phenomena and symbols chosen for their enduring presence in human history and culture. Drawing from emblematic, esoteric and personal sources, her unique visual language serves as a cipher for narratives both eternal and intimate. Her work interweaves symbols of time and devotion, such as hearts and hourglasses, with shooting stars, psychotropic plants, and armor. Distinguished for their jewel-toned blues and sensuous and austere style, the compositions explore themes of cycles and regeneration with a coded logic that nudges the realm of sacred text. 

Achieved through a meticulous process of layering and removing oil paint, Allen’s controlled application creates an effect of luminescence that captures an atmosphere of suspended time between definition and dissolution. Through this process of “dimming,” Allen conceals and exposes internal light sources in the work to create dynamic tension in the picture plane. 

The artist’s motifs engage with a visual language of utopian and metaphysical ideals, resonant in the work of visionary poet and painter William Blake, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, early Symbolist painting, and the zeitgeist of 1960s California. Resisting immediate legibility, Allen reminds us that not only do we shape the symbols that comprise our world—they also shape us.