Friday Focus: Olivia Bax
Olivia Bax (b. 1988, Singapore) lives and works in London. She studied BA Fine Art at Byam Shaw School of Art, London (2007-2010) and MFA Sculpture at Slade School of Fine Art, London (2014-2016). Recent solo exhibitions include: Home Range, Holtermann, London (2022); Spill, L21, Mallorca (2022); Off Grid, Mark Tanner Sculpture Award Exhibition, Standpoint Gallery London (2020) toured to Cross Lane Projects, Kendal (2020/21) and Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens (2021) and Chute, Ribot Gallery, Milan (2019/20). Recent group exhibitions include: Reflections: Part 3: Sculpture by Women Artists, Workplace, London (2022); Flock, BoLee and Workman, Somerset, UK (2022); Weeds Won’t Wither, Jari Lager Gallery, Cologne (2022); On the Other Hand, with Brooke Benington at Canary Wharf, London (2021) and Gleaners: Olivia Bax & Hannah Hughes, Sid Motion Gallery, London (2020/21). Prizes include: The Mark Tanner Sculpture Award (2019/20); Kenneth Armitage Young Sculptor Prize (2016) and Additional Award, Exeter Contemporary Open, Exeter Phoenix (2017). Bax’s work is part of private and public collections including: The Arts Council, The Ingram Collection and Tremenheere Sculpture Park.
See more at @olivia_bax_ or www.oliviabax.co.uk
Can you tell me about your practice? How do you get started on a piece of work?
Finished work materialises as sculpture – on the floor, wall, ceiling. But I also make a lot of drawings and monoprints. I rarely think about starting something: making work feels like an evolving carousel where current work asks further questions and results in starting something else. I often work in series because there seems to be an infinite amount of possibilities to investigate. If I am invited to show work for an exhibition it helps to spend time in the place and see the space. This can also inform decisions and a ‘starting point’.
Who or what are your biggest influences?
I take inspiration from my surroundings. I am drawn to a wide range of things: architectural features such as balconies and window grilles; domestic objects such as helmets, vessels and bags; anything ergonomic including hooks and handles. I have an interest in transitions: interior versus exterior; holding versus hiding; protecting versus restraining. That idea of conversion translates into an interest in systems and devices such as chutes, funnels, filters and even whisky stills.
I have a lot of artist friends – many of whom share the same studio block in South East London as me. Conversation with them provides constant stimulation and encouragement. My partner is also an artist so discussing ideas is a daily occurrence and visiting galleries and museums is frequent. And then there are books and the theatre too.
The process of drawing feels integral to your practice as a sculptor, could you talk further about how one informs the other?
I sketch and doodle on my phone or in notepads. They are my portable studio. When I am in the studio I normally don’t consult them but I am sure they inform what I make in three dimensions.
At the moment, I am looking at drawings I made at the V&A of some clocks and ironmongery plus some images of buildings in Avoriaz, France, which I visited recently while on holiday. It is a purpose-built ski resort, so it was interesting seeing it in the summer without snow. The stark architecture has been influenced by the surrounding Alps; yet there are no traditional chalets. I’m sure the mash-up of these encounters will materialise into new work in the studio.
I have been using a hand generated paper pulp for some time. The material is practical because I can generate a lot of material cheaply but I also enjoy how the colour is mixed into the material.
The pulp is a mixture of discarded newspapers (collected from London stations), discarded household paint (collected from DIY shops), PVA and plaster. Since lockdown, I have been collecting other rubbish, such as polystyrene packaging for electrical items (in abundance while the city grappled to make home offices). I have been considering how linear sections and solid parts can intersect and interweave.
I like to play with sculptural hierarchies and assumptions. For example, sculpture should be heavy and made from expensive materials. My sculptures are light, and made from waste. Recently I have been considering bronze patina principles but applied to paper pulp. I patinated the surface by letting watered-down discarded household paint spill over the sculptures and stain the surface.
My hands! I would be stuck without my hands.
My shredder, bucket, vice and welder are also fairly essential.
A few years ago I spoke to Jillian Knipe about the book called The Third Policeman, written by Brian O’Nolan under his pseudonym Flann O’Brien. The book was recommended to me by Graham Gussin when I was studying at the Slade and the imagery has had a lasting influence on my work. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of person and object (bicycle) becoming fused and I think about that often when making sculpture: how can narratives unfold from one thing to the next and how can the transition be convincing and strange.
You can read the interview with Jillian here.
Finally, is there anything new coming up that you would like to tell us about?
Yes, I am currently exhibiting a large sculpture called ‘Kingpin’ at The Lightbox, Woking (till January 2023). The exhibition is celebrating a new book called Revisiting Modern British Art, edited by Jo Baring and published by Lund Humphries: Linked here
I will doing a talk with Jo Baring at Cedar Halls in Wells, Somerset on the 11th of November to discuss the book, you can purchase tickets here
I also have a sculpture in the exhibition Studio Response [#3] at Saatchi Gallery, London curated by Dominic Beattie. The show runs till 5 December: Linked here