BY ISAAC HAN

In print | Published February 5, 2009

On display now in the List Gallery is the work of Baltimore artist Michael Olszewski, whose recent fabric constructions and watercolor paintings use subdued blacks and grays to articulate feelings of loss, solitude and struggle. Acknowledging influences ranging from the Russian Constructivists and Nazca Indians to Mark Rothko, Olszewski’s art is a patchwork of methods (Olszewski takes advance of embroidery, crochet, dying and appliqué, to name a few) and treated fabrics (silk, horsehair, cotton, leather, metal). “Olszewski is someone who combines craft, strong concept and a powerful emotional impulse so that his resulting works blend all his experience and personal concerns in a unique way,” List Gallery Director Andrew Packard said.

Shaped by the artist’s experiences growing up queer in a homophobic community where self-expression was often difficult, Olszewski’s art is deeply personal and self-reflective. In that regard, an understanding of Olszewki’s personal background is helpful in coming to a greater appreciation of his work. “It’s great to hear artists talk about their works because a lot of times they’re dense works, and so it allows you to see into the mind of the maker,” Alex Weintraub ’11 said after Olszewki’s lecture on Jan. 22.

Through his art, Olszewski explores his own emotional landscape and, in doing so, invites us to explore our own. “[Olszewski’s pieces are] very interesting as documents of trying to work out your own emotions in a way that might not be readily apparent upon first looking at them,” Sean Nesselrode ’09 said. Achieving a kind of transcendence from its material, his current exhibition evokes a strong visceral response and emotional reaction. “Each piece is like a prayer in terms of the tenderness and fidelity with which he’s assembled it,” Packard said.

Two standout pieces amongst the collection are “Innermost” (2004) and “Exile” (2008). Both of these works exhibit Olszewski’s trademark use of everyday fabrics and craft methods.

“Innermost” is a silk piece, stitched with a screen-printed set of blurred words to resemble an old piece of paper with faded text. In this piece, Olszewski uses something familiar, paper and ink, on familiar material, silk, to confront the viewer with the impermanence of everyday objects, such as the printed word, and strikes one with a bittersweet feeling of nostalgia. For me, the work recalled the original documents of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence—how those documents may eventually be lost to history, but their ideas may live on.

“Exile” works similarly. Made of paper, silk, cotton, metal and acrylic paint that is crocheted, stitched and appliquéd, the work somehow fittingly creates a sense of exile. This piece is remarkable in the way that, again, Olszewski has taken everyday objects and created something that is completely unlike those objects. Nothing looks like cotton, silk or paper that we see in everyday life.

But his devotion to his craft and skill allowed him to create a piece that represents to the way that life can wear you down and transform you into something jumbled and disoriented. The spirals in the center and the misguided line that seems like an off-center divider is affecting in its confusion. A little black piece that is separated from the rest of the jumbles of material especially jumped out to me. It struck me as an expression of isolation from a painful and nonsensical world.

For Packard, Olszewski’s work and his attention to subtle detail is an expression of the way that “we can become sensitized to nuances that are usually missed in the cacophony of daily life.” Ultimately, his art is moving, intimate and sentimental.

Michael Olszewski’s “Recent Work” is on display at the List Gallery until Feb. 25.

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