Kathie Olivas “Silence”
April 1 – 30th, 2023
Haven Gallery is honored to present New Mexico based artist Kathie Olivas for her third solo show “Silence” at the gallery. “Silence” will feature thirty sculptures and paintings exploring the momentary experience of calm one may notice before storm. Oliva’s characters are known for their playful expressions, invoking nostalgia and a yearning for the past. Forever curious, with a hint of deviousness, Olivas girls engage the viewer with playful demeanors beholden of mystery, evoking childhood wonder and shenanigans. A dismantling of time as linear, each work is aged, despite the waif like characters that pervade the artists oeuvre. “Silence” represents the fleeting moment before their mischievousness ensues, a reflection of our own personas as we brace ourselves for inevitable tempests. ABOUT Kathie Olivas Kathie Olivas is a multi-media narrative artist who resides in Algodones, NM with her husband and fellow artist, Brandt Peters. She began drawing portraits as a child and found an extreme love for creating from her imagination a world that did not exist in her own reality, often driven by her connection with the alter ego and reflective of her own experiences with a rare genetic disorder. For almost three decades, her work has explored society’s insatiable desire to assign ‘cuteness’ and our discomfort with the unknown. A dark blend of early American portraiture set in post apocalyptic times, her paintings and sculptures are a satirical look at how fear affects our sense of reality. Her wide eyed children and anthropomorphic creatures are meant to evoke a nostalgic reaction that reflects isolation and uncertainty, yet they also act as empowered alter egos. While these characters explore their new lonely worlds, they double as our narrators capable of developing their own defense mechanisms. They guide us through their reality as they experience it and yet, even in their company, we are granted no reassurance. Olivas worked as a portraitist and caricature artist in the early to mid 90’s while attending college at the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL. Before graduation, she began her early gallery curatorial work at Hyde Park Fine Arts and Covivant Gallery, putting together numerous exhibitions featuring artists from around the globe that connected to a narrative or character driven vision. Her long career in the arts has allowed her to exhibit at galleries and museums around the world and also connect to other visionaries and collaborators. She and her husband own and operate Stranger Factory Gallery in Algodones, NM and the internationally acclaimed artist collective, Circus Posterus.
