In elementary school, Alsion Robin drew pictures every day. She also cried a lot when mean children stepped on caterpillars and beetles at recess. She had not stopped drawing or loving ugly life of all kinds into her adulthood. Alison loves unhuggable animals as much as huggable ones.

Having empathy for life that is ugly and alien is a challenge, but it is necessary. If people can’t look at all life – No matter how useless, gross, confusing, or scary we might initially think it is – and see good things in it, then people are f—ed on individual, community, and environmental scales. Alison wants to use her art to help people find beauty in strange creatures.

Alison lives in Olympia, Washington, and predictably has many hideous pets.

“I am dying by inches, from not having any body to talk to about insects”
– Charles Darwin, in a letter to his cousin on the 12th of June 1828