Alison Saar is a contemporary artist known for her depictions of the experiences of the African Diaspora, femininity, and personal narratives.

Saar is primarily a sculptor, but dabbles in a variety of artistic mediums, including printmaking. Saar’s sculptures articulate the collective history of the female figure, and are heavily influenced by her African American heritage. The artist has shared that she is often mistaken as white and has struggled to have her racial identity recognized. Saar often references hair in her work as an important personal and cultural symbol of African American identity.

Creativity is literally in Alison’s DNA. Her mother is the assemblage artist Betye Saar and her father, Richard Saar, is a ceramicist and art conservator. Both parents' creative practices heavily influenced Saar’s childhood and subsequently, her own art. Her mother’s artwork focused on themes of spirituality and ethnicity, referencing her own personal history and American racism. As a child, Saar would regularly sit in her mother’s studio as she worked, developing her own artistic interest by tinkering with materials. Saar credits her mother for instilling in her an appreciation for metaphysical and spiritual traditions. These themes of spirituality and folkloric objects are an ever-present influence in Alison Saar’s body of work.

As a young adult, Saar worked as her father’s apprentice in his conservation studio. Working there led her to develop a keen understanding of Ancient Chinese, African, Egyptian, and Pre-Colombian objects. This hands-on education had a deep impact on Saar’s own creative expression where even today her work draws upon cultural significance embodied in the objects she uses and creates.

Saar came of artistic age during the rise of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. Although she states Josef Albers and Mark Rothko are two heavy influences on her work, she separated herself from minimalism and instead her practice focuses on representational figures and gritty, handmade materials. 

Alison isn’t the only creative offspring of Betye and Richard Saar. Her sister, Lezley Saar, is also a practicing artist, and is known for her mixed-media work that also focusus on race and gender.