I think it's pretty neat to go into space thinking you already know what's in there. And then you get up close to these cakes, which look pretty realistic until you're right in front of them. And suddenly, it's yard, you can have your cake and look at your cake, you could eat it. Or you can do this third thing that I'm presenting you, which is looking at cakes that are not real in any way.
Some of the most long lasting artwork creates a conversation between the work and those taking it in. Sometimes the message is overt, sometimes open for interpretation. This is random acts of knowledge presented by Heartland Community College. I'm your host, Steve fast. Today we're speaking with an artist who makes work that invites further inspection. At first, the pieces may seem good enough to eat, but you might want to wait a bit before digging in.
Hi, I'm Emma Oliver. I am an artist I use knit and crochet as my sculpture form. And currently I have an exhibit at Heartland.
So you mentioned a little bit about what it is you do. Tell me a little bit about what all mediums you work with. Is it just in crochet? Is it just fabrics? What do you do as a sculpture artist,
I'm sort of a little bit everywhere. That's something nice about being a sculptor is that you don't have to adhere to one thing frequently when you're a painter. It's one style of painting and you're stuck in that forever but I do large scale sculptural work, whether that be knit and crochet. Sometimes there's what involved as done cast metal glass, kind of a little bit of anything that I can get my hands on.
Well, when you say large scale sculpture work and crochet. I don't think a person normally thinks of large scale and crochet What do you mean well, how largest scale what do you crocheting that is large?
Yeah, I just completed my thesis exhibition. And in that exhibition, I had a six foot tall pink elephant that was crocheted, and other large scale knit and crochet pieces. There's one in the exhibit right now. That's about 10 and a half feet long. 10 and
a half feet long. Wow. That is that is pretty big. So did you find your way to sculpture through working with the mediums or do you start with sculpture and then incorporate other skills? How did you separate what I think a lot of people think of as sort of craft? And with fine art, art and sculpture? Or was that always your intent?
No, it wasn't I used to be a ceramicist. I went to Alfred University for ceramics in upstate New York. And I was doing that all my childhood actually. And that was really who I was, it was definitely like how I identified myself. And then about halfway through the program, I realized that I was doing better at fiber work in general. And I was using that kind of as my stress relief for the ceramics, which were really rigorous courses at that time, and I flip flops. And now ceramics is my hobby. And fiber is really my sculptural medium. So it's really all about like pushing that out of, you know, making mittens and sweaters, which I still do. But that's like my stress relief to my actual work now as well.
So how long have you been knitting and crocheting and doing that sort of thing?
Yeah, I learned how to knit in Girl Scouts. I was nine, and I'm about to be 27 and a couple of weeks. And after that, I learned how to crochet in college. So I was probably 18 or 19 at that time.
And was that something you took to ride away in Girl Scouts? Are you just fast tracking to that badge trying to get the knocked off?
Yeah, definitely fast tracking the badge. It's something I liked. I like repetition a lot. And both knitting and crochet is the same thing over and over again. And I use that in my work, too. But I don't think at that point, I was really like identifying and invested as a knitter.
So you mentioned that at one point, you had worked with those mediums as sort of a way to relax when you work with them. Now, when you're when you're trying to develop a piece that you have a concept for? Do you approach it in the same way that, you know, when you see people knitting, they're doing something else or they're taking the time they are knitting, watching television? I assume that you don't do it that same way now or do you?
I totally do. Like a day in the studio for me is I am sitting and I am knitting. And I'm probably listening to music or an audiobook or I'm watching something. If it's a show or a movie. It's probably something I've seen before because I'm like focused on making work. But because of the nature of my work, I usually start with a plan and I'm committed to that plan the whole way through. So it's really following a pattern more than anything and I don't really have to worry about oh, I need to make this small change conceptually. As I'm going,
so let's talk a little bit about what the work is like, at least in this current exhibit. Tell us about the have your cake exhibit, which is at Heartland Community College's Joe makalah gallery.
So have your cake is a play on the phrase, you can't have your cake and eat it too, which is about trade off. And the idea of having your cake and where the show title comes from, is I'm giving you a third option to the trade off, you can have your cake and look at your cake, you could eat it, or you can do this third thing that I'm presenting you, which is looking at cakes that are not real in any way. But kind of give you I don't know, I think it's pretty neat to go into space thinking you already know what's in there. And then you get up close to these cakes, which look pretty realistic until you're right in front of them. And suddenly it's yarn. And I think that's exciting and totally different. So yeah, it's about tradeoff and emotional vulnerability between people.
It's not just cakes in the exhibit, right? There are other objects that look like something else until you get closer and examine them. How difficult is it to create something that has more of a solid shape? So something that looks like a multi tiered cake, or there's a telephone in the exhibit? How hard is it to knit a telephone or something like that? I mean, when you think of knitting or crocheting, you think of more free flowing space. I mean, there's structure but but it's not right solid, usually. So Right? How do you go about doing that? And is it really hard, it can
be hard, the way that that really works. And sort of like creating a structure and flatness to things is really through how you fill the interior. So there's mostly stuffing inside those pieces. But there are support on the interior as well. So it's giving a skeletal structure that's fairly strong. But it's not that difficult sweaters and everything else that can knit and crochet, they also do have some sort of structure to fit a body. So it's not too far off and cutting like cardboard or whatever else is in my pieces.
As far as determining the texture. Having that outer shell is what makes it look like what it is. Have you found any particular challenges where you've had a concept in your head and you're like, Okay, I think I can do this and then had a surprise or challenge in trying to meet that that look in that texture.
Totally. One of the pieces that I made for my BFA thesis at Alfred was a car I made a full size 57 Chevy BelAir. And that's impossible. I learned making a really soft material into something hard and metallic was extremely hard. So it was kind of this sad, lucky thing, which I ended up loving conceptually, but being able to like divorce myself from the original plan. And I feel like that's not super successful was a little hard initially. And going with the material is more important for me than having it come out exactly how I need it to be.
So was that the most challenging piece you've ever created? Or was there something more difficult than that?
That was pretty hard anything with text? I have definitely spelled things wrong, and then had to undo it. I haven't done that recently. But That's never fun. I'm having to go back and edit a piece.
Yeah, no spellcheck when you're doing that. Usually. No. Did you realize that after it was all the way done or just as you were doing it,
I have done both reached like a halfway point and you know, unrolled it. I do a lot of pieces that feel like banners, almost like or maybe even billboard kind of style pieces. And I will roll it as I go. So I don't have to lug around this super long, heavy scarf and not realizing that I have made a mistake. And so I checked earlier and then having to wind balls of yarn up again is kind of sad.
Speaking of some of the other things that you have done with your work, tell me what is yarn bombing?
Yeah, yarn bombing. So it's kind of the equivalent to yarn graffiti. It's anything that is out there in public space. The nice thing about yarn is that it can be cut off of things really easily. So it's not as permanent as spray paint. And it doesn't really affect an environment in that way too. But I did a yarn bombing when COVID first hit in Bloomington, and I crocheted little masks for all of the statues around so Reggie Redbird had, and Abraham Lincoln had some and it was more about like, you know, we need to keep each other safe than anything else. I like doing yarn bombings was a concept rather than Oh, with a heart or whatever. So just something with a little more substance.
Well, I know that you've done other things that have been more like a payroll other than that. We're Is there a dividing line in your work where you think this is purely functional? Or this is a payroll? And then it's art? I mean, or is that something you don't worry about? And whatever you end up with at the end, yeah, finds its place.
Yeah, it kind of is something that I think about right away, a lot of things progressed into either art, or a wearable for me, if it is going to be like strictly apparel, it's probably something I've made for myself, that's the only time that it would be or a commission. But usually, if I am sitting down and making something, it's going to turn into an art piece one way or another.
Tell us about some of your favorites. We've talked about two or three of the pieces, some in the exhibit, some not in the exhibit, what are some other ones that you've made that turned out particularly great, or really you are proud of?
There are 12 balloons that are in the exhibit right now, I've actually made 77 of them that were in my MFA thesis show. And I love those people like interacting with those. Unfortunately, in this version of how we're showing them, they're not able to be handled and to be touched. But holding one of them, it kind of feels like you're holding a pet. There's this weird comfort that I totally love. And I have this love hate relationship with balloons like they're great to look at. But I hate the sound of like the squeaking of them. And I'm hopping. So the back and forth of that is interesting to me. And adding a sweater on them on the outside eliminates the sound completely. So it becomes a very friendly fun object. I really, really like those, like a
balloon catty to something. Yeah, balloon sweater. That's fun. So are there places where people can see this work other than the gallery, obviously can come to the gym colleague gallery, Heartland College, which is completely free went down the days it's open. Are there other places where people can see examples of your work?
Yeah, definitely, you can go to my website, which is Emma Oliver art.com. And then the same handle for Instagram. I am always posting gotta be doing that when you're young artists. And pretty soon I'll have another exhibition. I'll be at Breckenridge, creative art center in Colorado doing an artist residency with STEM in the fall. So I'll be kind of all over the place for a little bit. But yeah, it's definitely on my website. You can see my past work there as well.
And well, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us today.
Thank you so much for talking with me today. And I'm so excited to have the show up and it's just been so fun working with you guys.
Mr. Oliver is a sculpture artist who grew up in Marblehead, Massachusetts she primarily works in yarn as their sculpture medium, and makes large scale knit and crochet works for exhibition have your cake is on display at Joe McCauley gallery and Heartland Community College. If you're interested in other interviews about art, history, self help and many many other topics, subscribe to random acts of knowledge on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you heard this one. Thanks for listening
