Michelle O'Patick-Ollis
Overview for "There Will Come A Time"
Mrs. Opatick-Ollis reveals in her artist’s statement, ““A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art.” This is the famous quote that described Cezanne’s philosophy of art. When I first read this quote, I immediately printed it and put it on my studio wall. I had found a kindred spirit. For me personally, if I cannot express emotion with artwork, or elicit emotion from the viewer, I am not interested in creating it. I aim to visually describe what I feel, and in doing so, artmaking becomes a cathartic experience for me. At the same time, I invite the audience to share in my personal experiences hoping to engage them. When viewers cry while looking at my artwork/reading stories about my family, I know it isn’t caused by sympathy or empathy for the characters in my visual novel. They cry because my work causes them to recall their own personal experiences. It brings buried feelings to the surface where they can be felt again and ultimately released. The viewing experience becomes the very definition of catharsis. It provides psychological relief through the open expression of emotions”. Michelle also states, “My body of work is a collection of realistic portraits. Through a variety of media including coffee painting/mixed media drawings, writing, and story quilts, my work depicts the challenges of the aging process. Largely influenced by my role as a caregiver for my parents, my drawings tell the story of a mother with Parkinson’s disease and a quadriplegic father with dementia, enduring the winter of their lives. The stories I tell through my drawings are personal in nature, yet they speak to anyone who has watched loved ones grow old and become imprisoned within their withering bodies”.
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