ARTIST STATEMENT

Olivia Mitchell is a contemporary artist whose practice is grounded in an intuitive, tactile dialogue with the natural world. Working predominantly with an earthy, monochromatic palette, she embraces the unpredictability of a physical, process-led approach: layering, scraping back, and reworking materials to reveal subtle, textured surfaces. Through this method, her work explores themes of time, erosion, and transformation.

Her paintings have a visceral, elemental quality, evoking weathered metal, scorched earth, or the remnants of fire. Bathed in rich tones of ochre, umber, and sienna, they suggest a sense of the earth’s enduring memory: ancient, resilient, and quietly expressive.

Since completing her MA in Fine Art at the University of Gloucestershire, she has increasingly focused on creating more intimate, materially sensitive works. Photography has recently become an important and experimental component of her practice. Used as a form of visual sketching, it allows her to capture rusted objects, found materials, and the subtle effects of time and decay. Often shaped by chance and serendipity, these images inform her approach to colour, surface, and materiality, acting as departure points for her paintings.

This process has led to the development of a body of smaller-scale “miniature” works. Intimate and accessible in size, these pieces maintain a close relationship to the scale of the found objects that inspire them. This reduced format encourages close viewing and reflects the immediacy of the photographic source.

Influenced by the concept of wabi-sabi, Olivia’s work values simplicity, imperfection, and the beauty of the temporary or incomplete. Found objects, such as pebbles captured along the British coastline, serve as recurring points of quiet observation, anchoring her practice in moments of stillness and material reflection.