Olivia Lucia is a mixed medium artist and health science student. Graduating from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in 2016 with a Bachelors of Fine Art Majoring in Print Imaging. Olivia graduated with a specialisation in Spatial Practice and the Moving Image.
From 2017-2020 studying Health Science and Traditional Western Herbal Medicine. Her education in science informs her art practice. This practice touching on themes of her medical tribulations was the catalyst for her journey in applying at a science college. Studying science has advanced her skills in research and writing. Due to interstate and international art opportunity Olivia has taken a break from her studies.
Olivia works across multiple mediums. Her passions lie in photography sculpture, installation, textiles, sound and video. She resides between Melbourne (stolen Wurundjeri Land), Australia and her families medieval town in the province of Salerno Italy. The shift in location and surroundings produces a mix of modern and traditional elements within her practice. Her participation and research into Italian folk festivals is evident in the textures and colours she uses. Whilst still referencing anatomy and physiological hues.
Olivia works both on delicate pieces and larger outdoor installations. As well as creating wearable sculptures and costumes. These costumes are informed by both contemporary and historical influences.
“I am both obsessed with and almost amused by the physicality of the body. My practice reflects and comments on my experience within the matter I occupy. By attempting to defuse the stigmas and humiliations surrounding the body I’ve found comfort within it. It has helped me to engage and re connect with the physicality of what I am.
My practice thous far has exposed my experience of my body. My ongoing project Cystic delves deeper and is a direct reflection and response to having Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. With little information available and an intentional decision not to view imagery of the affected area or case study photo documentation, my visuals of it haven’t been influenced until after the completion of new works.
Instead these works are a simulation of what I envision is going on inside my body as well as my experience of the symptoms. I guess the purpose of this project is for self directed therapy as well as a way to use art and design as a form of activating conversation and opening up a dialogue. This series involves collecting materials and constructing objects through a repetitive process. I create shapes and three dimensional forms from found materials and then piece them together, constructing a larger tactile sculptural form. In this case Cystic combines both design and art to form synthetic oddities that resemble human matter. Whilst also interacting with the space as functioning objects”
