Suzanne Olmsted

Oakland, United States

About the Artist:
Olmsted received her Master of Fine Arts in Printmaking and Photography from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale and her Bachelor of Arts in Printmaking & Photography from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Since 1996, she has been Resident Faculty at the San Francisco Art Institute, teaching Photo and Digital Printmaking, Silkscreen, PolyGravure, Intaglio, Book Arts, Alternative Photography, and Contemporary Practice. She is also Chair of the Department of Printmaking.

In her own art, Olmsted works with these diverse media plus sculptural installations and painting. Her work also includes original written pieces which have appeared in extensive publications, and photographs of her art have appeared in regional and national journals including Printmaking Today, The Herald, Back Stage West, San Francisco Examiner, The Current, Tempe Tribune, Northern Lights, The Billings Gazette, New Times, and Photographers Forum. Olmsted's gallery affiliations are: AIR Gallery, New York, NY; Gallery 25, Fresno, CA; Photo Art Gallery, Burbank, CA; and Vision Gallery, San Francisco, CA.

Artist's Statement:
This work embodies my thoughts, reflections and feelings before and after my diagnosis of a badly damaged spinal cord.

When viewing this work, try to image the space between the body and the mind. Translating the optical, visceral, and kinetic aspects of one's being has been my goal throughout this work. The work grouped together and titled collectively "Dis Embodiment" is my attempt to face this head on.

My wish is to face this entanglement – this complicated and confused state – and find meaning.

Art is often defined as that which transforms. My goal has been to transform my condition into beauty rather then the distance it has created between my body and my mind. By using myself as a model, I am exposing myself and creating power through transformation.