ARTIST STATEMENT
Lindsay’s artistic practice grows out of an intense curiosity about the ways our society is supported by science and technology. She uses her training as an artist to create art about the hidden realities of our world. As Fermilab’s first artist in residence, she worked with scientists’, members of the operations crew, and numerous staff throughout the lab to learn the basics of high energy physics. Her work grows out of many hours of research with scientists, engineers, and staff. A lifelong textile practitioner, she uses her skills to create innovative textile art to help connect viewers to an abstract branch of science. Inspired by the work of Swiss artist Lissy Funk and Lenore Tawney, she pushes the edge of expression with textile processes.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Lindsay’s artistic practice grows out of an intense curiosity about the ways our society is supported by science and technology. She has worked as Fermi National Accelerator’s first artist in residence, with the CMS experiment at CERN in Switzerland, with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, the Field Museum, the Chicago Botanic Garden and with the Center for Acoustics Research and Education at the University of New Hampshire. Her work is currently touring in Europe, and has been shown at the Schingoethe Center, Woman Made Gallery, Zhou Brothers Art Gallery, the Field Museum, Illinois Institute of Technology, and the University of New Hampshire.
She speaks about her projects widely including the Textile Society of America 2020 symposium, The Studio Arts Quilt Associates International Conference in Toronto, the University of Illinois Saturday Physics for Everyone, the Field Museum’s Women in Science lecture series, The Chicago Council of Science and Technology, the Chicago Cultural Center’s Lake FX event, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and many other venues.
Her work has been featured in Scientific American, Physics Teacher Magazine, Sci/Art Magazine, Surface Design Journal and Textile Artist.org. Lindsay taught in the Fashion Studies Department at Columbia College Chicago for over 20 years. She is currently serving as the first artist in residence with The Wetlands Initiative. When not visiting a lab or working in the studio, she can be found canoeing with her husband on one of Chicago’s many area waterways.
© Lindsay Olson