Alison Alder

Alison Alder (born 1958) is an artist working predominantly within screen-printing media, technology-based works and "constructed environments" to explore social issues in Australia, including Indigenous Australian communities, and other organisations. Alison Alder works within multiple disciplines for her works including screen-printing, animation and installations. Her work is in the possession of many public and private holdings throughout the world

She received a Diploma of Arts from the Australian National University: School of Art and Design in Canberra in 1980. After graduating from ANU she completed a Graduate Diploma of Arts at Monash University, Victoria in 2002; she graduated from Monash University: Monash Art Design & Architecture, with a Masters of Fine Art in 2007.

Alder is currently an associate professor at Australian National University in Canberra and the Head of Printmedia and Drawing.

Works Alder has been exhibiting works in group exhibitions since 1982 and has held 16 solo exhibitions. Her works are held in collections throughout the world including the Cruthers Collection of Women's Art, the National Gallery of Australia and the New York Public Library Print Collection. She created a bright coloured poster that uses collage, including a woman figure wearing a yellow apron who holds a sign that states the title as well as “Support the K.C.C Women’s Auxiliary Community Action will Save our Jobs”. Many inspiring activists, feminist, and writers used Alder’s posters (including this one) in protests and newspaper publications against the issue of unemployed women in the 80s. Alder created Intervention (2008) in direct response to the Howard Government interventions in Indigenous Australian communities, especially in Tennant Creek. Intervention reflects the consequences of these interventions. One direct effect of these Government actions was "Income Management," where over half of a welfare recipient’s payments were withheld, and payments could only be spent at registered outlets. This was one of the pieces of legislation that was enforced in the Tennant Creek community. Intervention documents Alder’s direct response and perspective of these Government actions. It is a series of nine screen prints, currently held in the Cruthers Collection of Women's Art. Drawing from Sidney Nolan’s 1953 work about Western Queensland droughts, Alder created works that in her mind commented on governmental policies that were put into place throughout Australia's history since being colonised and the inability to move "past a use and destroy mentality". Alder's work was exhibited in Making it New: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art in September 2009 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. The exhibition focused on artists with a career spanning over 10 years, and highlighted works containing themes of tradition, regional history, politics and historical references. Spanning multiple mediums, the exhibit explored notions of studio-based artistic labour, especially within craft-based mediums. At the time of this exhibition, Alder had been creating works for over two decades.

Solo exhibitions 1991 A Country Show. aGOG, Australian Capital Territory.

2013 Cutting Out Stories of Lanyon. Lanyon Homestead, Australian Capital Territory.

2018/19 Newscrap. Canberra Contemporary Art Space, ACT.