By Rebecca Wagner, Senior Reporter
From the moment Emilia Olsen was able to grab ahold of a crayon or a pencil, art became an important piece of her life.
Olsen uses her art as an outlet to promote the freedom to self-regulate and process life experiences that everyone goes through.
“For me, it’s … an automatic thing that I do,” Olsen said. “It’s kind of like brushing your teeth.”
Olsen was the artist-in-residence at Northwestern in March.
Olsen was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, while her parents were there working for the Peace Corps.
Olsen grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. In 2007, she moved to Washington, D.C., to attend college at Corcoran College of Art & Design. She earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in 2011. Olsen lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
After Olsen moved to Brooklyn, she worked as an artist assistant and has gradually grown her career.
Olsen’s work has been exhibited nationally and has been featured in many different publications, including Vogue, Maake Magazine and Two Coats of Paint, along with a podcast called “Sound & Vision.”
Olsen has spent her whole life in art, and through it all, she has had overwhelming support from those around her, she said.
Northwestern isn’t Olsen’s first residency. She was an artist-in-residence at the New York Residency Program in Brooklyn in 2009. She took part in the DNA Residency in Provincetown, Massachusetts, the Horse and Art Research Program in Hungary, Starry Nights in New Mexico and Hotel Belmar in Costa Rica.
“I had a really, really nice time in Alva,” Olsen said. “It was really fun to visit and get the chance to use the studio.”
Staying in Alva for her residency, Olsen said her favorite things to see were the Oklahoma sunsets and stars in the sky.
“I tend to live in places where there is a lot of light pollution and things like that,” Olsen said. “But I also had a really fun time meeting people at the university and just kind of getting to walk around and see all the murals.”
From her different residencies, she has been able to experience different lives. Going through the residency has allowed Olsen to see a different lifestyle than what she is used to, which opens doors for her art, she said.
“I feel like I just have to draw and ruminate, and then we will kind of see what happens next,” Olsen said.