Fine arts student draws inspiration from natural world

Jacob Pitts
Staff Writer

“I really wasn’t much of an artist before enrolling in HVCC’s fine arts program,” student artist Joel Olzak admitted. “I couldn’t draw as much as a table when I started college.”

Though Olzak wasn’t always predisposed to art, he said he grew up in a very creative family.

“I definitely had more art education than many people as a child,” he said. “My family would take trips to museums, and I can remember traveling to New York City to see my older sister’s photography show there.”

Two of Olzak’s siblings are working with art and music, and lots of his extended family are musicians.

Once Olzak, now in his third year, started at Hudson Valley, he said he began coming into his own as an artist. “I would say I’ve improved a lot—now I can accurately paint forms with realistic color and depth.”

Olzak said he thinks his strengths are more on the “conceptual” side. “I focus on the meaning of a piece, and how it fits into what I’ve been working on,” said Ozak.

The fine arts major said his main artistic endeavors lie within the fields of oil painting and artist’s books. Out of all of his works to date, he said he is most proud of his painting finals.

“They’re just of a still life, but they represent probably almost 70 hours of work each,” he said. “That’s pretty typical for a well-realized final in our studio classes, although I’m not the fastest worker here.”

He confesses that his greatest weakness is figure drawing, but hopes to keep practicing.

Olzak describes the artistic process as very lengthy, and existing solely mentally for quite some time.

“I spend a lot of time thinking about a work, how to make it mean what I intend. So I can have things brewing in my mind, but not actually begin it for awhile,” said Olzak.

Olzak said he will typically plan a piece out in his sketchbook and work out how I will assemble it or just what size it needs to be. He said a painting can take several days for a simple one, or several weeks for a complex one and a book can only be worked on on the page it’s open to.

“If it’s being painted or glued in, it’ll need time to dry before it can be worked on more, so, time varies a lot,” said Olzak.

A recurring motif in Olzak’s artwork is nature, which he is very much in tune with. He said he enjoys hiking in his free time, a fact that is clearly reflected in his creative output.

Olzak said, “Bookmaking has become a huge part of my practice. I hand-bind a book and fill it with appropriated images, paint, and even raw materials such as dried leaves, wood, and other plants.”

Olzak said his major is very focused on painting, but that he’s also becoming more of a sculptor as of late. “I tend towards natural materials, dead plants, stones, and whatever else is needed for the piece.”

In particular, Joel’s work considers the social aspects of nature, like its relationship with humanity. He has even covered Native-American history.

“I have touched upon some of the terrible things that the U.S. has done, in particular the destruction of the indigenous people of this land. I want to explore this more in my work, I’m just focusing on other things right now,” said Olzak.

Olzak’s favorite art movement is land art, because it protested the commercialization of art and explored our connection with nature, as he aims to do with his own work. A prominent influence of his is Anselm Kiefer, who he learned about earlier this school year.

“He’s a post-war German artist, so he’s dealing with the collective guilt of their nation. He does so in an often primal or cosmic way, and his works feel timeless. The way he uses raw materials has informed much of what I have been working on,” said Olzak.

Now in the midst of his final semester at Hudson Valley, Olzak is deciding on his next course of action. He’s applied to five schools thus far—SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Purchase, Maine College of Art, MassArt, and Brown University, and eventually hopes to get a Master of Fine Arts.

“I’d really like to teach at the college level, though I enjoy working in galleries or museums as well. As for how HVCC has prepared me, I feel that I have a good idea of what awaits me in the job market,” said Olzak.

Olzak currently has a job on campus at the Teaching Gallery for the duration of this school year, and assists his art professor with installing shows and other gallery-related tasks.

“I think this experience has made me career-ready, and I’m only half-done with college,” Olzak said.

Joel said he would have advised his younger self to get started drawing much earlier. “My high school had an optional art class I always took, but I never felt like I was naturally gifted. I’ve had to work at it.”

So far, Joel’s work has been featured in the campus gallery as well as last semester’s SUNY Student Art Exhibition.

This was a great honor to him, because the selection was very exclusive and they had a fantastic opening. This summer, his art might also be displayed at the sculpture park at OMI International Arts Center in Ghent, where he works.