ARTIST STATEMENT

Olivia Childress is a graphic designer and illustrator living in Bloomington, Indiana and currently working towards her BFA in Graphic Design. Her work is most often inspired by the outdoors and her interactions with natural spaces. Childress’ practices combine both digital and analog methods and use both synthetic and natural materials to inform a completed work. Her work educates viewers while discovering beauty in the mundane and lending aestheticism to utility.

Childress’ “Save Indiana Wildlife” campaign presents a set of illustrated posters focused on endangered and threatened wildlife in her home state, drawing from her experiences as an avid hiker, her passion for wildlife conservation, and her drive to find beauty in her midwestern home. Each poster illuminates an often forgotten ecosystem in Indiana and the wildlife that calls these natural spaces home, exploring the wetlands, dunes, caves, and forests of this incredibly biodiverse state. Her artist book “In the Shadow of the Valley”, explores a recent trip to the American Southwest through handmade books and artifacts. The work forces the viewer to piece together a larger experience through its parts in an attempt to understand the whole.

Currently, Childress is exploring the recreation of memories and experiences
through the lens of her personal history in nature. She is also expanding upon her work in the world of letterpress and screen printing through posters and typography.

reach me at
occhildressdesign@gmail.com