A Jewish Mother Paints the Daughter She Never Had

Art sometimes imitates life and at other times, it’s a sign of what you’d like to happen. The latter was the catalyst for artist Allison Kroll’s new painting, “A Girl (I Will Never Meet) In Pink,” at the Dacia Gallery in downtown Manhattan until March 23.

“I’m a Jewish mother of two wonderful boys,” Kroll told the Journal. “I always wanted to have a daughter. My mother and I had a very close relationship. I saw a picture of this girl online. This is the idealized version of a daughter I never had. I fell in love with this girl, and I had a connection to this image. It reminded me of my mother in a way and we have a close relationship. I later did more research and found out this model is Russian which is the same background that I have.”

“I’m a Jewish mother of two wonderful boys (but) I always wanted to have a daughter. My mother and I had a very close relationship. I saw a picture of this girl online. This is the idealized version of a daughter I never had. I fell in love with this girl, and I had a connection to this image.” – Allison Kroll

Someone asked if it’s a painting of her or a relative; it is not.

Kroll, a New Jersey resident who is still close with her mother,  was a high school art teacher in Forest Hills, Queens, where some of her students were from Uzbekistan and were Bukhari Jews.

“I became interested and studying some of the history and sadly there are so few Jews there anymore due to persecution, forced conversion and expulsion,” she said. “You can see it was a really beautiful community and the culture is wonderful.”

Her research inspired her to paint “Bukharian Bride” a 16’20 oil on Claybord.

A fan of rock and roll, Kroll in 2016 knew she was going to meet Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. So, she painted him and gifted him her work, which shows his mystique and rocker hair. But she kept her composure and was not crying when she met him.

“He loved it and was very cool,” she said. “He is full of life and a great performer. I wanted to show his mystique and his hair.”

Kroll, who has had three solo shows and whose artwork has been in numerous exhibitions, said there is a belief that all art comes from pain.

“That’s not always true,” she said. “I think it can sometimes be true, but it’s about expression and desire and whatever strikes the artist at a given point in time.”

While she is thrilled to be part of an exhibition of female artists, and is a proponent of women’s rights, Kroll said she stays away from politics in her art.

“With all the insanity and the stress, when I can go in my studio, I get away from all of that and it’s a great escape.”

Kroll studied at Maryland Institute Art College, where she was part of the school’s honor’s program in Aix-en-Provence, France and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting. She received a Master’s of Fine Arts from Queens College.

She said she is proud to be Jewish and hopes people don’t forget their heritage, adding that all people should be knowledgeable about their religion and culture.