Olivia Rees Welsh, b. 1990
Olivia Rees, currently residing in Bath, is a Welsh visual artist whose work delves into the intricate relationships within the vibrant materiality of earthly ecology. She is keen on revealing the dynamic materiality of the natural world and aims to shift the focus away from human-centric perspectives to explore a more open, plural and complex relationships in nature. She seeks an artistic exploration towards the agentive and discursive ability of all material beings, showcasing the ongoing process of interconnectedness and liveliness of matter.
In this discourse, through the medium of ceramics, physical, temporal, malleable and unpredictable, clay radiating as a material agency, she expresses a wide array of material relationships. This characteristic allows her to delve into more expansive connections.
In her recent body of work, she examines the intricate overlaps, entanglements, superimpositions, and fields of tension between nature, matter, and material culture. Through sculptural compositions, she challenges viewers to perceive and reconsider the boundaries between the natural and the constructed, inviting them to contemplate their understanding of the fluidity and complexity of material relationships.
Education
2023 Contemporary Arts Practice B.A. (Hons), Bath Spa University
Group Exhibitions
2024 TINCT, Ruup & Form, London
2023 Bath Open Art Prize, 44AD Artspace, Bath
2023 Wales Contemporary, The Waterfront Gallery, Pembrokeshire
2023 Aquae Sulis, OXO Tower, London
2022 GRWP, Fringe Arts Bath Festival, Milsom Place, Bath,
2022 Origins, Michael Pennie Gallery, Bath and the Lifeboat Studio, Porthleven
2022 Death of An Object, Sion Hill Gallery, Bath
2021 In the Meanwhile, Milsom Street Gallery, Bath
Residencies
2023/24 Studio Residency, EMERGE, Bath
2022 La Meridiana, International School of Ceramics, Tuscany, Italy
2022 The Lifeboat Studio, Porthleven, Cornwall
Awards and Sponsorships
2023 Oppenheim-John Downes Memorial Trust Development Grant
2023 ‘Highly Commended’ Bath Open Art Prize
2022 Full Scholarship Award, The Porthleven Prize
2021 'Outstanding Academic Achievement' Bath School of Art, Vice Chancellor's