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Utilizing a surrealist approach, I combine scientific investigations with classical oil painting creating tableaus exploring my personhood in the context of the anthropocene. I paint figurative compositions, make artist books and performative installations. My paintings utilize a contemporary color palette and a variety of visual languages ranging from romantic to scientific. My implementation of digital collage sketches allows me to emphasize surreality through jarring scale shifts, misplacement, and hard edged collaged remnants while giving me the freedom to cohesively blend some areas. I masquerade stories of environmental destruction under the guise of traditional modes of visual information dissemination. By playing with themes from scientific illustrations, medieval religious iconography, and traditional still lifes, I am evoking the contextualized importance of the environment as all encompassing.
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Eleanor Olson was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan surrounded by women and dogs. Early love for painting was encouraged by summers spent at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp where they discovered a passionate desire to pursue art. After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2020, Eleanor elected to stay in Providence and create bodies of work that explore both their personal identity and the ecological environment of the city. Currently, Eleanor lives and works in East Providence surrounded by a menagerie of plants, bones, pinned insects, a snake, a cat, a dog, and a human man.
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EDUCATION
2020 BFA; Painting Rhode Island School of Design- Providence, RI. USA.
Concentration in Nature, Culture, and Sustainability Studies
Concentration in History, Philosophy, and Social Sciences: Race, Gender, and Sexuality
2019 European Honors Program- Rome, Italy.
2019 Guyana: Art and Biodiversity Travel Course- Surama, Guyana.
2016 High School Diploma Community High School - Ann Arbor, MI. USA.
RESIDENCIES
2023 Interdisciplinary Residency, Oak Spring Garden Foundation. Upperville, VA. USA.
2019 Gallery Residency, World's Fair Gallery. Providence, RI. USA.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 Portrait: International Online Juried Exhibition Li Tang Gallery, Albany, NY. USA.
2022 Wonderland International Juried Exhibition The Trolly Barn, Poughkeepsie, NY. USA.
2022 ReExamining Conservation Brown University’s Cohen Gallery, Providence, RI. USA.
2021 Heresy/Hearsay SPRING/BREAK Art Show, Manhattan, NY. USA.
2021 The Fall of Civilizations LHUCA, Lubbock, TX. USA.
2021 Emerging Artists Exhibition Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA. USA.
2021 Represent: New Portraiture Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY. USA.
2021 On Paper Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Art Center, Solomons, MD. USA.
2021 Drawn in Books Tomato Mouse Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. USA.
2021 We ARE Queer History Queer Artist Collective, Providence, RI. USA.
2021 Life on Venus: The Human The Tub: Hackney, London, UK.
2020 Life on Venus: Landscape The Tub: Hackney, London, UK.
2020 RISD Senior Show Woods Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI. USA.
2020 The Color of My Land Gelman Gallery, Providence, RI. USA.
2019 23 Memoes, European Honors Program Palazzo Cenci, Rome, Italy.
2019 First Show, European Honors Program Palazzo Cenci, Rome, Italy.
2019 Annual Student Artist’s Book Contest and Exhibition Fleet Library, Providence, RI. USA.
2018 Synergist Vol. 1 Deepstaria enigmatica AS220 Gallery, Providence, RI. USA.
2018 RAWArtists Providence Connect Showcase The Strand, Providence, RI. USA.
2017 The Dog Show Benson Gallery, Providence, RI. USA.
2016 35th Annual Congressional Art Competition The Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. USA.
HONORS AND AWARDS
“Self Portrait Masquerading as a Still Life.” Juror’s Choice Award. Emerging Artists Exhibition. 2021.
“The Five Eleanors.” Honorable Mention. Represent: New Portraiture - National Juried Art Exhibition. 2021.
The Edna Lawrence Scholarship and The Herbert Claiborne Pell, III & Eugenia Diehl Pell Scholarship, 2018.
“Koi Fish.” 1st Place. Michigan Congressional Art Competition. 2016.
PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA
“Re-Examining Conservation: Questions at the Intersection of Arts & Sciences,” Art New England. May 2022.
“A Conversation with Ecological Artist Eleanor Quist Costello Olson,” Applied Ecology News, North Carolina University. March 2022.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
“Eat, Drink, Lure.” Public Science Lab, North Carolina State University. Raleigh, NC. USA. Completed 2024.
“Murale por I Gatti di Roma.” Colonia Felina di Torre Argentina. Rome, Italy. Completed 2019.
“Zebra.” Mint Artists Guild Collection. Detroit, MI. USA. Donated 2016.
“And They Went Down to the River.” Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp Collection. Twin Lakes, MI. USA. Acquired 2010.
EDUCATION
2020 BFA; Painting Rhode Island School of Design- Providence, RI. USA.
Concentration in Nature, Culture, and Sustainability Studies
Concentration in History, Philosophy, and Social Sciences: Race, Gender, and Sexuality
2019 European Honors Program- Rome, Italy.
2019 Guyana: Art and Biodiversity Travel Course- Surama, Guyana.
2016 High School Diploma Community High School - Ann Arbor, MI. USA.
RESIDENCIES
2023 Interdisciplinary Residency, Oak Spring Garden Foundation. Upperville, VA. USA.
2019 Gallery Residency, World's Fair Gallery. Providence, RI. USA.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 Portrait: International Online Juried Exhibition Li Tang Gallery, Albany, NY. USA.
2022 Wonderland International Juried Exhibition The Trolly Barn, Poughkeepsie, NY. USA.
2022 ReExamining Conservation Brown University’s Cohen Gallery, Providence, RI. USA.
2021 Heresy/Hearsay SPRING/BREAK Art Show, Manhattan, NY. USA.
2021 The Fall of Civilizations LHUCA, Lubbock, TX. USA.
2021 Emerging Artists Exhibition Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA. USA.
2021 Represent: New Portraiture Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY. USA.
2021 On Paper Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Art Center, Solomons, MD. USA.
2021 Drawn in Books Tomato Mouse Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. USA.
2021 We ARE Queer History Queer Artist Collective, Providence, RI. USA.
2021 Life on Venus: The Human The Tub: Hackney, London, UK.
2020 Life on Venus: Landscape The Tub: Hackney, London, UK.
2020 RISD Senior Show Woods Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI. USA.
2020 The Color of My Land Gelman Gallery, Providence, RI. USA.
2019 23 Memoes, European Honors Program Palazzo Cenci, Rome, Italy.
2019 First Show, European Honors Program Palazzo Cenci, Rome, Italy.
2019 Annual Student Artist’s Book Contest and Exhibition Fleet Library, Providence, RI. USA.
2018 Synergist Vol. 1 Deepstaria enigmatica AS220 Gallery, Providence, RI. USA.
2018 RAWArtists Providence Connect Showcase The Strand, Providence, RI. USA.
2017 The Dog Show Benson Gallery, Providence, RI. USA.
2016 35th Annual Congressional Art Competition The Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. USA.
HONORS AND AWARDS
“Self Portrait Masquerading as a Still Life.” Juror’s Choice Award. Emerging Artists Exhibition. 2021.
“The Five Eleanors.” Honorable Mention. Represent: New Portraiture - National Juried Art Exhibition. 2021.
The Edna Lawrence Scholarship and The Herbert Claiborne Pell, III & Eugenia Diehl Pell Scholarship, 2018.
“Koi Fish.” 1st Place. Michigan Congressional Art Competition. 2016.
PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA
“Re-Examining Conservation: Questions at the Intersection of Arts & Sciences,” Art New England. May 2022.
“A Conversation with Ecological Artist Eleanor Quist Costello Olson,” Applied Ecology News, North Carolina University. March 2022.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
“Eat, Drink, Lure.” Public Science Lab, North Carolina State University. Raleigh, NC. USA. Completed 2024.
“Murale por I Gatti di Roma.” Colonia Felina di Torre Argentina. Rome, Italy. Completed 2019.
“Zebra.” Mint Artists Guild Collection. Detroit, MI. USA. Donated 2016.
“And They Went Down to the River.” Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp Collection. Twin Lakes, MI. USA. Acquired 2010.
