Olivia Chapman

Olivia Chapman received her BFA at Ohio State University with a focus in painting and drawing in December 2019. Most recently Olivia began to show work in galleries through Ohio Art League. She has worked with the Indian Mound Mall in Newark, Ohio, doing live painting at the Big Sandy store opening and a Back to School event, and has also taught a couples painting night for Valentine’s Day in 2018. She has presented work at two pop up art shows, both locations in Columbus: RAW Artists show in September 2017 and Pancakes & Booze show in January 2017. In 2015 she created paintings that were auctioned off at Awakening Youth's Graduation Gala (a nonprofit, therapeutic living experience for teen girls), and in 2014 she traveled to Nicaragua on a mission trip where she led a painting activity with college students during a retreat.

       Most recently, Olivia has been exploring popular narratives and their symbols in portraits, inspired by the Pop Surrealism movement. Bible stories, fairy tales, and contemporary movies and books are all sources of inspiration. Though religion can be a source of irony in lowbrow and pop surrealism, Olivia aims to explore a genuine faith in the childlike faces of the style. Rather than humor, her style focuses on a combination of child-like qualities (vulnerability, dependency, innocence) with greater issues of maturity (identity, love, faith, and existentialism).