4 minute read
ARTS
A path all her own
Olivia Hodgson creates her own 3-D art style
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Story By Donna Campbell
During her freshman year of college, Olivia Hodgson hoped she’d learn everything there is to know about digital art and land a job animating the newest princess for Disney.
What she learned instead was that sitting in front of a computer to create art is not her forte.
When it comes to art, the 22-year-old from Brookhaven is extremely hands on.
Hodgson is a student at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond working toward a bachelor’s degree in fine arts with an emphasis in sculpture.
Photos by Gracie Byrne
Though she wanted to work for an animation studio, she realized in her digital art class at Copiah-Lincoln Community College that computers and technology were not well suited for her.
“After that, I took a three-dimensional art class and fell in love with the process,” she said. “The feeling of working with my hands to make a threedimensional form was satisfying to me, and it just felt natural to me.”
The daughter of Geoffrey and Lisa Hodgson, she got her start in art at Ava Jane’s Art Barn when she was in first grade. Owner Ava Jane Newell saw talent in young Hodgson and encouraged her passion. Hodgson continued her classes with Newell through her senior year.
Some of her hobbies are crocheting and sewing, which she also uses in her art. She uses fabric, yarn and other textiles to create what is called soft sculpture or textile sculpture.
“It’s not traditional bronze and wood sculpture,” she said.
In college, she dug deeper into the field, developing her style. When people see her work, she wants them to recognize it as an original Olivia Hodgson piece. Creating art comes naturally for her.
“My process usually comes when I sit down and knit or sew, I turn on some quiet music or a podcast, shut off my brain, and let my fingers take over. I try and keep my process simple, but at the same time, calculated as possible. I try not to put too much thought into my work, I build upon the visual aspect of the art piece as I go along, making small adjustments here and there, and I let my instincts tell me when I feel like the sculpture is complete.”
At Southeastern, Hodgson won Best in Sculpture at the 2020 Student Art Show. She also won first prize for Best Computer Artwork at the Hinds Community Art Show in 2017 and honorable mention in the Drawing category in the Co-Lin Art Show in 2018.
She’d planned to show her work in the spring art show at Southeastern, but the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled that.
However, the pandemic has also inspired her creativity.
“The art piece that I call ‘Pathogen’ is the piece I’m the most pleased with,” she said. “In this piece, I wanted to use my creative problem solving skills to talk about COVID-19 and how different people respond to the virus. ‘Pathogen’ is an interactive piece, where people can walk up to the sculpture and pick it up, kick it around, throw it to their friend, whatever the person feels is the appropriate way to handle a foreign object, much like how people are handling COVID-19, how some people will either take action to prevent the spread, while others might ignore it, or others might not care about the disease or other people. The piece represents how we as a society respond to a foreign substance.”
After graduation, Hodgson plans to continue her studies to earn a master’s degree and teach. She doesn’t think she can be satisfied staying at home working as a full-time artist.
“I’m a person who enjoys having interaction with other artists,” she said. “I like to have a sense of community.”
To see more of Hodgson’s work visit her on Facebook or on Instagram at olivia_the_sculptor.
Olivia Hodgson thought creating digital art would be the path she chose, but that changed when she found her passion for three dimensional art. She enjoys creating pieces that not only have meaning, but can be handled by the viewer as well.
