An award-winning artist whose works are short-lived but preserved by photography is making Portland her new home. Samantha Ollstein is a multimedia artist, receiving her BFA in Painting from Otis College of Art and Design and is currently an MFA candidate at Portland State University. Ollstein’s art form stems from her history of life-long health issues, as well as the process of watching her grandmother’s health deteriorate before passing.
Those experiences are the synthesis behind her unique art form “Exposure Therapy.”
Going through her own version of Exposure Therapy, Ollstein immersed herself in reading anything she could about death, the human body, medical issues, and medical imagery.
She then took all that information to create her art using artificial materials. Ollstein hopes anyone who beholds her artwork is moved to start thinking about their own body and mortality, explaining it as a process everyone goes through.
Her exhibit is located at the Littman Gallery displayed on the second floor of the Smith Memorial Student Union until November 29. An evening is also set aside on November 18 at 5:30 p.m. for an “Artist Talk,” where enthusiasts can hear Ollstein talk about her art form and creations.
For more about this artist, visit her website at samanthaollstein.com.