Olea Nova was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. She is a graduate of the University of Humanities and Social Sciences in St. Petersburg and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her body of work spans the media of painting, drawing, printmaking and video. Olea Nova lives and works in Chicago.
Growing up in St. Petersburg, Russia, Olea Nova’s first introduction to art was through renaissance paintings, baroque architecture, and Russian folk art, these largely influenced her painting’s content and formal inquiries.
Beauty, harmony and improvisation are of concern in Olea Nova's work. Merging painting and drawing techniques with improvisational decision making she creates paintings that are built up through free-flowing layers of translucent paint and intricate mark making in which conveyed space is expanding and fluctuating between the two and three-dimensional.
Through her painting process Nova creates visual tension between serendipity and control, perfection and imperfection, accidents and deliberation. She is interested in the interplay between the individual components of her paintings and the overall structure as well as the creation of the complex network of disordered visual information.
"I am reaching for an instant, when the seduction of impossibility becomes even more impossible. It is a shimmering world held together by the desire for the unreachable. In the end, it is all about love."
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Coalesse, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL
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"Art and Poetry" event, |
"New Approaches: Four Exhibitions of Current Work," Sullivan Galleries, Chicago, IL |
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Sullivan Galleries, |
"Summer Sounds: One Minute Film Festival" The Art Institute of Chicago |
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Studio, work in progress |
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Selected Exhibitions (*indicate one-person exhibitions)
2010 "Summer Sounds: One Minute Film Festival," Screening video: "The New Beginning",
The Art Institute of Chicago, Modern Wing, Chicago, IL
Coalesse, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL NeoCon 2010
2009 "New Approaches: Four Exhibitions of Current Work," Sullivan Galleries, Chicago, IL
NSUSA/SAIC Art Appreciation Program, Nippon Steel U.S.A., Chicago, IL
2007 "Peace Tower," Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
Pulp, Press and Print for Democracy Portfolio Exchange, Bedford Art Gallery,
Longwood University, Farmville, VA
2006 "Peace & Justice," Sponsored by World Can't Wait, Chicago, IL
http://chicagoworldcantwait.org/
2004 * First Street Playhouse, Batavia, IL
2003 * Silent Witness Project, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, WI
Animal Images," Juror: Ed Paschke, The Anti-Cruelty Society, Chicago, IL
Headache Management Seminar, Sponsored by AstraZeneca through an unrestricted educational grant, click here
2002 "Shoes the Sole of Humanity," John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI
Wisconsin Department of Administration, Madison, WI
*"Piercing Conflict," Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Chicago, IL
2001 University of Wisconsin Annual State Art Exhibition, Madison, WI
*University of Chicago Great Lakes Center, Health in the Arts Galery, Chicago, IL
2000 *"Brain Storm," Odin Gallery, La Crosse, WI
Grants and Awards
2008 Nippon Steel U.S.A. Award, NSUSA/SAIC Art Appreciation Program
2005 CAAP Grant, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs
2001 State Exhibit Award, Wisconsin Regional Art Program
Bibliography
2011 Chicago Talent Magazine. Click here
2010 "Migraine art sur Internet" Al'Mots September. 2
2007 Cover. Footlights. Marcus Promotions, Inc. February/March.
2005 Cover. Northeast Florida Medicine. June. Click here for image.
“Artist Olea Nova Captures Migraine Symptoms in Watercolor.”
Northeast
Florida Medicine. Ed. Timothy L. Steinberg. June. 7.
2004 Nova, Olea. Interview. B! Entertainment. BATV, 4-6 February. Click here to listen.
2003 The Tapestry magazine, Art & Pain: Migraine, October.
Domnie, Mary. “Artist Profile: Olea Nova.” The Tapestry Magazine. May. 28.
Cover. The Tapestry Magazine. Click here for image.
2002 Phillips, Renee. Presentation Power Tools for Fine Artists. New York:
Manhattan Arts International. 97. Click here for image.
Chicago Reader. Section Two. May 17. 32.
Lynch, Kevin. “Mirroring Migraines” The Capital Times. March 20.
2001 Chicago Reader. Section Two. August 17. 28.
Publications
Nova, O. (2002). "Piercing Conflict" (Catalog for an exhibit of paintings held 5/17/2002-6/28/2002; The Chicago School of Professional Psychology). Chicago: Olea Nova Studio. (www.migraineartwork.com)
“The Silent Witness National Initiative and Silent Witness College Program.” The Tapestry Magazine. May 2003. 30. Click here
“Distinctions of Baltic People’s National Psychology.”St. Petersburg University of Humanities and Social Sciences, Russia. The Multinational Petersburg. 1994, Issue 1.
Presentations
June 2003, National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) 24th Annual Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana. Session title: Art as Activism in Women’s Studies. Presenting “Silent Witness Project” completed at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse.
Projects
Silent Witness National Initiative, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
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Articles
Artist Olea Nova Captures Migraine Symptoms in Watercolor
Northeast Florida Medicine Journal, Focus on Pain Management, June 2005
Art & Pain: Migraine
The Tapestry magazine, October 2003
Mirroring Migraines
The Capital Times, March 20, 2002
More Art: