Olivia Guterson’s multifaceted compositions are deeply personal investigations of truth influenced by geometric abstraction, remembrance, ancestral patterns, and their relation to the natural world. The intricate layerings in her work reveal her inner knowings that exist beyond written language, and the iconographies that comprise each piece are informed by familial memories as well as place. Fascinated with the implications of her chosen materials, Guterson imbues mementos and objects onto the surface of her paintings, such as cowry shells, necklaces, and dirt collected throughout her neighborhood in Detroit. Looking beyond mere subject matter, she investigates surface texture and physicality as a vehicle for storytelling.
Distilling her influences to simple, digestible shapes forges endless and harmonious patterns that resonate with a cyclical and continuous exchange of energy from maker to viewer. The artist’s practice is a study of her stream of consciousness and an outlet to record her most honest thoughts and experiences. Her paintings, characterized by a seamless blend of fragmented patterns, symbolize the complex minds of humans and the endless myriad of ideas that are inherently intertwined within.
Guterson received her MFA in painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in the Spring of 2024.
Selected Works
Olivia Guterson
At the End of Daybreak, 2024
Oil, acrylic, cotton thread, glass seed beads, crushed quartz, bone, shell, sand, wood beads, African coconut shell, steel wire and sawdust on cotton canvas
84h x 48w in
Olivia Guterson
Until The Sun Falls, 2024
Oil, acrylic, steel wire, cotton thread, wood, African fish bone, African coconut, sawdust, glass seed beads, pumice, sand, cornstarch and glitter on cotton canvas
48 in diameter
Olivia Guterson
In the Sweet By and By, 2024
Oil, acrylic, cotton thread, glass seed beads, African coconut shell, sand and sawdust
48 in diameter
Olivia Guterson
Dark Was The Night #3, 2024
Acrylic and crushed quartz on cotton canvas
24h x 36w in
Exhibitions & Projects
Artist CV
Education
2024
Cranbrook Academy of Art, Master of Fine Arts, Painting, Bloomfield Hills, MI
The Evergreen State College, Bachelors of Arts, Olympia, WA
Residencies
2023
El Sur, Mexico City
2021
Modern Ancient Brown, Detroit, MI
2020
Siblys Shrine, Pittsburgh, PA
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024
In the Wild Beyond, Louis Buhl & Co., Detroit, MI
2022
Salon Highlight, Louis Buhl & Co., Detroit, MI
Juneteenth Proclamation, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Personal Residence, MI
2021
At Our Table, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
Moon Garden, Found Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
EXPO Chicago 2024, Louis Buhl & Co., Chicago IL
Graduate Degree Exhibition, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
The Space Between, Forum Gallery, Bloomfield Hills, MI
2023
Is Any|Body Home?, Forum Gallery, Bloomfield Hills, MI
CARTOGRAFFITI, Forum Gallery, Bloomfield Hills, MI
2022
It Takes a Village, Library Street Collective, Detroit, MI
Environmentally Speaking, Janice Charach Gallery, Bloomfield Hills, MI
2020
The Space Between, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI
2019
Elemental, Arab American National Museum, Dearborn, MI