Olivia Baldwin, "Quince"
2022
Acrylic, canvas, wire, embroidery floss
39” x 17” x 11”
Price does not include shipping. Contact info@collarworks.org for a shipping estimate.
ABOUT
I make abstract, double-sided, three-dimensional paintings. The recent forms are structural yet flexible, containing infinite gestures and configurations. Each painting is formed from a single piece of canvas — painted, coiled, and folded in on itself. The forms slump, dangle, jut, and hang, as if garments slack and ruffled across invisible bodies. My attempts to precisely replicate a gesture prove futile, which is the point.
Double-sided, the forms’ piped edges delineate and confuse inside and outside as if clothing strewn across the ground. The stitches nod to my mother, a fashion designer, and expert seamstress. Despite decades of offerings, I never learned to sew. The crude, rhythmic stitches mark this, holding the wire that animates the forms.
Color is instinctive and mischievous. It dictates the initial cutouts and the subsequent forms. I embrace clashing and incongruous colors and the thrill of trying to make them fit together. I soak the cutouts in paint, and they record the contours of the surfaces on which they rest.
The series title, Mantle, speaks to the paintings’ simultaneous allusions. They are self-supporting and relational — an inch changes everything. They hover, buoyant. Soft armor ready to be worn.
Baldwin’s work has appeared in exhibitions in Austria, Italy, and throughout the United States, including Zürcher Gallery, A.I.R. Gallery, Boston University, Miami University, and Jane Lombard Gallery. As an extension of her studio practice, Baldwin has organized and curated numerous multidisciplinary projects and exhibitions in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. Baldwin's work has been supported by residencies, fellowships, and grants from Assets for Artists (MASS MoCA), Ox-Bow, Vermont Studio Center, the Wood/Raith Living Trust, Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, and the University of Connecticut, among others. She received her MFA from the University of Connecticut and her BFA in painting and BA in English/Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. She lives in Providence, RI, and teaches painting and drawing at Babson College.
2022
Acrylic, canvas, wire, embroidery floss
39” x 17” x 11”
Price does not include shipping. Contact info@collarworks.org for a shipping estimate.
ABOUT
I make abstract, double-sided, three-dimensional paintings. The recent forms are structural yet flexible, containing infinite gestures and configurations. Each painting is formed from a single piece of canvas — painted, coiled, and folded in on itself. The forms slump, dangle, jut, and hang, as if garments slack and ruffled across invisible bodies. My attempts to precisely replicate a gesture prove futile, which is the point.
Double-sided, the forms’ piped edges delineate and confuse inside and outside as if clothing strewn across the ground. The stitches nod to my mother, a fashion designer, and expert seamstress. Despite decades of offerings, I never learned to sew. The crude, rhythmic stitches mark this, holding the wire that animates the forms.
Color is instinctive and mischievous. It dictates the initial cutouts and the subsequent forms. I embrace clashing and incongruous colors and the thrill of trying to make them fit together. I soak the cutouts in paint, and they record the contours of the surfaces on which they rest.
The series title, Mantle, speaks to the paintings’ simultaneous allusions. They are self-supporting and relational — an inch changes everything. They hover, buoyant. Soft armor ready to be worn.
Baldwin’s work has appeared in exhibitions in Austria, Italy, and throughout the United States, including Zürcher Gallery, A.I.R. Gallery, Boston University, Miami University, and Jane Lombard Gallery. As an extension of her studio practice, Baldwin has organized and curated numerous multidisciplinary projects and exhibitions in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. Baldwin's work has been supported by residencies, fellowships, and grants from Assets for Artists (MASS MoCA), Ox-Bow, Vermont Studio Center, the Wood/Raith Living Trust, Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, and the University of Connecticut, among others. She received her MFA from the University of Connecticut and her BFA in painting and BA in English/Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. She lives in Providence, RI, and teaches painting and drawing at Babson College.
2022
Acrylic, canvas, wire, embroidery floss
39” x 17” x 11”
Price does not include shipping. Contact info@collarworks.org for a shipping estimate.
ABOUT
I make abstract, double-sided, three-dimensional paintings. The recent forms are structural yet flexible, containing infinite gestures and configurations. Each painting is formed from a single piece of canvas — painted, coiled, and folded in on itself. The forms slump, dangle, jut, and hang, as if garments slack and ruffled across invisible bodies. My attempts to precisely replicate a gesture prove futile, which is the point.
Double-sided, the forms’ piped edges delineate and confuse inside and outside as if clothing strewn across the ground. The stitches nod to my mother, a fashion designer, and expert seamstress. Despite decades of offerings, I never learned to sew. The crude, rhythmic stitches mark this, holding the wire that animates the forms.
Color is instinctive and mischievous. It dictates the initial cutouts and the subsequent forms. I embrace clashing and incongruous colors and the thrill of trying to make them fit together. I soak the cutouts in paint, and they record the contours of the surfaces on which they rest.
The series title, Mantle, speaks to the paintings’ simultaneous allusions. They are self-supporting and relational — an inch changes everything. They hover, buoyant. Soft armor ready to be worn.
Baldwin’s work has appeared in exhibitions in Austria, Italy, and throughout the United States, including Zürcher Gallery, A.I.R. Gallery, Boston University, Miami University, and Jane Lombard Gallery. As an extension of her studio practice, Baldwin has organized and curated numerous multidisciplinary projects and exhibitions in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. Baldwin's work has been supported by residencies, fellowships, and grants from Assets for Artists (MASS MoCA), Ox-Bow, Vermont Studio Center, the Wood/Raith Living Trust, Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, and the University of Connecticut, among others. She received her MFA from the University of Connecticut and her BFA in painting and BA in English/Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. She lives in Providence, RI, and teaches painting and drawing at Babson College.