Alex Olson '14

The tactile qualities of the raw materials Alex Olson works with every day—primarily wood and clay – are as much a part of his creative process as his imagination.

“When I go into the studio, I don’t have set expectations. I have a general vision of what I want to create, and then I respond to shifting information as I work,” says Alex, who graduated magna cum laude from Carleton College with a BA in Studio Art. “It’s a kind of call and response—a dance with the material.”

Alex designs wooden and ceramic bowls and vessels inspired by the natural world. Their forms are both organic and evocative, with the wooden pieces featuring knots, cracks, and natural edge characteristics of the wood, and the ceramic vessels reflecting hues and textures of soil and vegetation. For all of their beauty, many of his pieces are intentionally crafted to be utilized, integrated into people’s daily routines involving food and drink.

“My art pieces are intended to be both beautiful and functional,” confirms Alex. “I’m interested in creating pieces that bridge the art-life divide.”

Since 2013, Alex’s work has appeared in more than 15 exhibitions around the country. He is currently represented in three galleries: Seattle’s Kobo Gallery, Everett’s Schack Art Center, and the Rob Schouten Gallery in Langley, Washington. In 2018 he launched his art business, Alex Olson Arts LLC, and proceeded to not only create his artwork but document his artistic processes through imagery and video on his website and social media channels.

A Path to Artistry

Before choosing his life as an artist, Alex actively explored a wide range of interests. He chose Carleton College because it was a small liberal arts college where he could take courses in both art and science and continue his athletic passion for playing ultimate. For the first couple of years, he took a variety of courses in math and computer science, but by his junior year, he knew he was heading in a different direction.

“I didn’t want to sell my soul to the tech world,” confirms Alex. “I took physics, writing courses, art history classes and, after exploring those, I found the most love and joy from the arts.”

Majoring in studio art, Alex studied drawing, sculpture, woodworking, ceramics, painting, printmaking, and photography. He found his arts teachers to be “grounding and wise people” who encouraged creativity and critical thinking.

A Thirst for Creativity

Looking back, Alex credits The Northwest School for developing the sense of curiosity and wonder that he took with him to college.

“The art program at NWS was incredibly valuable to me— being exposed to many mediums starting at a young age such as theatre, dance, music, and visual art,” says Alex. “It instilled in me an intensive curiosity and openness to learning.”

Early in his freshman year at Northwest, Alex took Mime and Improv with Scott Davis. He remembers Scott structured the class in a way that embodied valuable skills and philosophies.

“We all started on the floor with meditations and working to set and sink the body into space—working on the idea of intentionally being present and having a mind-body connection,” recalls Alex. “Mime gave me a greater awareness of my body, how to engage it as a creative tool, and how to use it in a sustainable way. I learned the importance of good body care and mechanics.”

Developing Body and Mind

Today Alex’s creative process is grounded in the physical— he hikes in the forests around Seattle and cuts and hauls his own wood from locally salvaged trees; he operates power tools to turn wood and sculpt clay. Clearly, a healthy body is vital to his process. But as vital, if not more so, is a developed sense of courage.

Says Alex: “In my arts practice, I actively choose to be curious, inquisitive, and attentive, and embody those qualities over fear.”