Allanah Vokes develops elaborate technology-driven systems to collect and transform visual data, producing works in sculpture, drawing, photography, and digital media. Her studio practice investigates how the alchemical powers of technology can be harnessed to preserve natural phenomena, and in doing so, entangle the human and more-than-human spheres and contemplate possibilities for future coexistence.
During summer 2022 Allanah was artist-in-residence at Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland, where she used photogrammetry to record rare plant specimens in situ, crystallizing this data as 3D-printed sculptural works. Other current research involves collaborating with neural networks as a strategy for image generation.
Allanah is an Ontario Master Naturalist, active member of her local field naturalist group Lambton Wildlife as well as the Ontario Field Ornithologists, wildlife photographer, and obsessive birder. Her field-work approach to data collection in her art practice is informed by her experience as a frequent contributor to citizen science projects such as eBird and iNaturalist and her involvement in the ongoing Ontario and Newfoundland provincial Breeding Bird Atlases.
She received her Bachelors of Arts Honours in Studio Art from the University of Guelph in 2015.