SIOBHAN OLSEN

Siobahn is from Queens, New York. She had very little drive to do anything artistic with her life until just a few years ago. After discovering her love of art she discovered what she had truly been chasing after through her various mediums. She wanted no more than to create and feel. Once she realized this, she dug into her art and began to gain confidence and focus more on what would grasp her own attention in art. She is driven by feeling, both emotional and physical. Her work is very textural, and she plans to continue working in a direction that she hopes can make other people more open to feeling the world around them, both emotionally and physically.

My project series originally began as a series of canvases, much like one would paint on, that rested at a tabletop level and existed solely for the purpose of touching them and experiencing texture. My entire project revolved around texture, wanting the audience to experience the piece to the fullest potential as it is, being an object on the same plane of existence as us. However, the spread of the Coronavirus, leading to quarantine, led to change. Now, it is a series of photographs, trying to emulate the feeling of texture and hoping to evoke a curious nature. I wish to make people desire to touch what is being photographed. I want texture to become a catalyst that makes people wish to touch beyond the photo itself.

This is a series of photographs. All of the work photographed is my own creations. The pieces photographed are composed of many types of mixed media including but not limited to canvas, acrylic paint, plaster, and twine.

I wanted to create this, initially, so people could feel something. Emotional feelings can be difficult, and while just looking at art, there is no guarantee one will feel anything or, with those who do feel something, feel the same thing. Now, due to the virus, I had to think beyond the physical barrier, which was my initial focus. With these photos, I intend to invite the audience to truly let their curiosities expand. I wished to break the barrier that art is just to view, now I want the experience of art to go beyond just what one sees. I want others to want to go beyond the work, itself. Everyone deserves to experience art, and learning to think beyond what is visual is part of the experience. Sometimes, people stop at what they can see, I wish to make people think beyond that.

Peeled Paint Close-up 1, digital photo

Textured Close-up of Twine and Acrylic through Canvas, digital photo