Jade Olson, "Bell's Seasoning"
STATEMENT
With a deliberately handmade form and a folk art attitude, this work is intended to play on our joy in abundance and our human desire to possess. The past 3 years taught us how fragile we and our food supply can be. During this time, I experienced food insecurity; a vulnerability that brought me to confront some complicated feelings about food, hunger, and abundance. How much eating is about comfort and not about hunger? How is the act of buying groceries connected to security? With the aid of public assistance, I found comfort in purchasing food that touches me emotionally, especially if the packaging stirs some memory of happiness. The sculptural work I created expresses the pleasure of being able to buy food that is luxurious or frivolous. Inspired by clay pots created 10,000 years ago for the purpose of storing seeds or oil -- items valued as currency -- my vessels hold beauty and comfort while offering an antidote to the deep anxiety of food insecurity. Layered glazes in saturated colors celebrate the privilege of plenty, while surfaces that bubble and drip away evoke a lingering fragility.
BIO
Born in Texas, and living in Boston, Jade Olson obtained her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She has exhibited locally and nationally, and is a Helen Blair Crosbie Sculpture Award recipient and Boston Cultural Council grant recipient.
STATEMENT
With a deliberately handmade form and a folk art attitude, this work is intended to play on our joy in abundance and our human desire to possess. The past 3 years taught us how fragile we and our food supply can be. During this time, I experienced food insecurity; a vulnerability that brought me to confront some complicated feelings about food, hunger, and abundance. How much eating is about comfort and not about hunger? How is the act of buying groceries connected to security? With the aid of public assistance, I found comfort in purchasing food that touches me emotionally, especially if the packaging stirs some memory of happiness. The sculptural work I created expresses the pleasure of being able to buy food that is luxurious or frivolous. Inspired by clay pots created 10,000 years ago for the purpose of storing seeds or oil -- items valued as currency -- my vessels hold beauty and comfort while offering an antidote to the deep anxiety of food insecurity. Layered glazes in saturated colors celebrate the privilege of plenty, while surfaces that bubble and drip away evoke a lingering fragility.
BIO
Born in Texas, and living in Boston, Jade Olson obtained her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She has exhibited locally and nationally, and is a Helen Blair Crosbie Sculpture Award recipient and Boston Cultural Council grant recipient.
STATEMENT
With a deliberately handmade form and a folk art attitude, this work is intended to play on our joy in abundance and our human desire to possess. The past 3 years taught us how fragile we and our food supply can be. During this time, I experienced food insecurity; a vulnerability that brought me to confront some complicated feelings about food, hunger, and abundance. How much eating is about comfort and not about hunger? How is the act of buying groceries connected to security? With the aid of public assistance, I found comfort in purchasing food that touches me emotionally, especially if the packaging stirs some memory of happiness. The sculptural work I created expresses the pleasure of being able to buy food that is luxurious or frivolous. Inspired by clay pots created 10,000 years ago for the purpose of storing seeds or oil -- items valued as currency -- my vessels hold beauty and comfort while offering an antidote to the deep anxiety of food insecurity. Layered glazes in saturated colors celebrate the privilege of plenty, while surfaces that bubble and drip away evoke a lingering fragility.
BIO
Born in Texas, and living in Boston, Jade Olson obtained her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She has exhibited locally and nationally, and is a Helen Blair Crosbie Sculpture Award recipient and Boston Cultural Council grant recipient.