Alana Walters

Alana Walters grew up in Lindenwold, New Jersey. During the beginning of fifth grade her family relocated to Philadelphia, PA where she currently lives and works. She struggled with her mental health in middle school which caused her to turn to her love of art making to escape. Bold bright colors and strong bold lines that overlapped each other consumed most of her early work. It wasn’t until high school that she considered how much she loved and believed in her work which allowed her to pursue it in college. Her sophomore year she started to heavily research her love of psychology and went on to create a Rorschach series with shaped cardboard cutouts and watercolor paint. This accompanied several pieces in another watercolor series of hers which explored mental illnesses in the form of brain scans. After graduating from Delaware College of Art in Delaware with her A.F.A in 2015, it took her 5 years to brave schooling again at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Unfortunately due to health issues, she had to leave during the second semester in her junior year, but she returned to school a couple years later to receive her B.F.A. in 2022. It was in that last round of schooling where she found the style she currently works in. Her layered Rorschach tests use the imagery of hair braiding with stamps and the line portraits to create illusions in the viewer’s mind. Alana has had work shown in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Washington State thus far. She has received awards from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women and has been nominated for the Yale Norfolk Program. Currently she continues to work on defining her artistic practice and plans to go back to school to get a degree in art therapy.