Olivia Smith is a printmaker and textile artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her work aims to challenge the cultural association of exertion with value, and critique societal pressures that shape gender roles, emotional labor, and self-worth. Much of her creative practice centers around invisible labor and the correlation with domestic work and wood block printing. Smith is currently an MFA candidate at Tyler School of Art and Architecture in printmaking and received a BFA from the Art institute of Chicago. She has A background as a textile designer that can be seen through her work as a respect for pattern repeats and references to the body.

Artist Statement

My work utilizes printmaking techniques to explore the emotional landscape of a daily routine. Through a collaging practice I manipulate photographs of my mundane tasks, repeating and overlapping the figures, to create intricate patterns. The resulting compositions resemble motion studies or chronophotography, with each figure marking a distinct phase in a continuous action. Though the gestures are simple, putting on a sweater, or buttoning a coat, the layered imagery creates a sense of urgency and implies a cyclical force to the tasks at hand.

This anxious state is the result of functioning within a fast paced, multi-tasking environment created through generations of misogyny and capitalism. These systems place the onus on women to provide comfort, emotional stability, and visual appeal, at the expense of one’s own list of priorities. By documenting my own labors of domestic maintenance, and transforming them into sequential imagery, I reflect on my need for
constant movement and productivity as well as the sense of accomplishment and joy I derive from these patterns of oppression. I aim to challenge the cultural association of exertion with value, and critique societal pressures that shape gender roles, emotional
labor, and self-worth.

Woodblock carving is an ideal medium to engage in nuanced conversations around domestic politics and gendered labor. Carving wood is a physically intensive process where the material carved away leaves no visible trace in the final image. Much like the act of tidying a home goes unnoticed since a clean room is devoid of all evidence of a previous mess. Similarly, etching is a taxing process that slowly accumulates to reveal a finished piece only through perseverance and patience. These traditional printmaking techniques hold a history of protest, spreading knowledge and raising awareness to the masses. By utilizing these slow and methodical processes, I create a space for reflection and resistance.