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Sean Olson

I am an object maker interested in what it means to find beauty in the mundane. My interest in the way culture places meaning on objects—and how that meaning changes depending on context—has lead me to an interest in nontraditional materials. I explore the materials through process, gathering and altering, allowing the physical and formal characteristics to guide my decisions.

Observing these objects has led me to consider our everyday experience and what I choose to drag into my life. I then try to understand the fundamental nature of the object or material, e.g. does the essence of a leaf, exist among the leaves on the tree, as an individual leaf or dry and crumbling on the ground? I want a place or object that creates a state of focus through beauty, environment or the absurd. Throughout this process I find myself homesick, only I can’t remember where my home is.

Sean Olson, artist