Artist: Wendy Olson
Wendy Olson, WISCONSIN
Bio
Wendy Olson lives with her potter husband, Jay Jensen, in Western Wisconsin. Wendy received her BFA in painting and drawing from UW-River Falls and her MFA in Ceramics from Kent State University. Wendy has been teaching ceramics at Inver Hills Community College in Minnesota for 25 years.
Artist Statement
The content of my work is a visual journal of my life. The imagery conveys narratives of family dynamics, motherhood, everyday life, and encounters with friends, and real town characters are also frequently used as inspiration for my work. Though my work often has a humorous undercurrent, it is not a mockery of my subjects, but rather an attempt to understand and even glorify them. The effort to transcend what I have experienced is always present; the effort to connect the commonplace with the universal and the universal back with the commonplace. Personal iconography and symbols represent and reveal the mood, secrets, and underlying importance of that particular “journal entry.”
My current work added a new layer of pattern through painting, sgraffito, and transfers. These patterns are inspired by a few things. My grandmother worked in a sewing factory, and she brought scraps of fabric home. I was mesmerized by the fabric and choosing which ones we would use to make garments with. The patterns are also symbolic of the complex layers of my life.