Between cancer, COVID, and my ongoing advocacy work, life is full and challenging. I had a good run with online dating but have decided to put it on the down low for the time being. No hard feelings, just finding I don’t have the energy/ambition/interest at the current moment.
However, my art practice is going STRONG. And that, my friends, is a bit like being in love.
Honestly, I just want to be at the studio all the time now. I am working on multiple paintings (fifteen at last count) and also have a fun project on the side–art related.
Some time back I was lamenting the fact that I had never gotten an advanced degree. I also knew I did not have the money for one now. But some of my closest friends are educators and I thought, why not approach them? A DIY MFA—all about the work without an actual degree. Process oriented, which is what art should be all about anyway.
That evening I approached three of them and by the next morning I had a dropbox full of reading assignments. For one full semester I met weekly with my friend Markus to discuss art theory. I read books, wrote papers, and had a solo show. And then both of our lives just got too busy.
However, six weeks ago I started getting a hankering to complete what we had started. To my delight, Markus was once again on board.
My goal shall be to write an antithesis rather than a thesis 🙂 I am painting and making assemblages but my primary project is going to be a museum. An avid collector since my youth, I have a crazy assortment of objets trouvé, most of which I have actually picked up off the ground. Occasionally I have purchased something in a flea market or thrift store and there are a few items that have been gifted to me. I shall be assembling them into a cohesive collection complete with detailed didactics. I view this as a critical commentary on both education and museum practice. What makes something worthy (my collection is very high/low end)? And, what gives someone the right to take something and put it in a museum in the first place (colonialism).
So far an amazing group of people have signed on for collaboration. I am beyond excited and have begun documenting some of my collection on instagram (linnea olson for those that are interested—the anatomical heart is my profile pic).
Per usual my primary limitation is merely physical energy, which is in contrast to my practically effervescent psychic energy.
I have always considered myself an artist but this is the first time in my life that I have felt so driven. Call me a late bloomer. Call me fortunate that I bloomed at all.
life and breath: outliving lung cancer 