​Swiss artist Allison Zurfluh, born and raised in California, anchors her practice in the singular ecology of the Venetian lagoon. From her house in Burano to her studio at Isola Santa Cristina, she works in sustained dialogue with the intertidal salt marshes — an environment increasingly recognized for both its fragility and cultural significance. Her daily crossings by boat are integral to her process, embedding the cyclical movement of tides, wetland ecologies, and the fishing traditions of the northern waters into her work.

 

Graduated from Westmont College in Santa Barbara and having studied oil painting under the Australian artist John Kelly, observation, repetition, and immersion form the methodological foundation of her practice, grounding each painting in lived experience.

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Zurfluh’s paintings are part of her ongoing Laguna Knitted project, which translates the stratified landscape of the wetlands into layered chromatic fields. Built through accumulative processes that echo sedimentation and tidal flow, the compositions unfold horizontally, evoking mineral deposits, shifting horizons, and atmospheric depth. Each work functions simultaneously as abstraction and site-responsive record.

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Her use of oil on raw jute further distinguishes the work. The tactile surface lifts pigment unpredictably, creating subtle variations that render each painting materially singular. The result is a body of work that is conceptually rigorous and sensorially resonant, holding presence in both intimate and architectural spaces.

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Allison is a thrice-published author, and the co-founder and president of the Barena Association, which supports conservation projects in the northern Venice Lagoon.

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