Nacida en 1956 en Laurel Canyon, un suburbio de Los Ángeles (California), Alison Saar se licenció en el Scripps College de Claremont (California) en 1978 y obtuvo un máster en el Otis Art Institute de Los Ángeles (California) en 1981. Aunque tiene ascendencia afroamericana, europea y nativa, la obra de Saar se inspira especialmente en la cultura, la historia y los relatos afroamericanos.
Alison Saar (born February 5, 1956) is a Los Angeles, California based sculptor, mixed-media, and installation artist. Her artwork focuses on the African diaspora and black female identity and is influenced by African, Caribbean, and Latin American folk art and spirituality. Saar is well known for "transforming found objects to reflect themes of cultural and social identity, history, and religion." Saar credits her parents for her exposure to these metaphysical and spiritual practices. Her mother, Betye Saar (née Brown), is a collagist and assemblage artist and her father, Richard Saar, is a painter and art conservator. Saar followed in her parents footsteps along with her sisters, Lesley Saar, who is also an artist, despite wanting to get out of her parents shadow. She finds more gratification in making art than writing about it, as she found out after finishing a dual major in fine arts and art history.
Throughout her years as a practicing artist Saar has received achievement awards from institutions including the New York City Art Commission as well as the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.
