Jermaine Ollivierre
Legacies
Clothing, car parts
Rocky
Personal effects
Artist Statement
I grapple, challenge, defend, dissect, and exploit the misunderstood complexities of identity in my work. The disparity within specific local, urban, rural, and suburban landscapes feeds my practice. I use the privileged and underprivileged situations of my lived experience as the artistic medium to aid my insatiable appetite for truth. Unfinished, in-progress choices in my sculptures mirror the never-ending investigation of the self and serve as a function tapping into the human condition. I intentionally use autobiographical experiences as my source material, which exposes my internal struggles. This process of peeling away societal influences and norms reveals uncomfortable truths, which continue to further my inquiry into the human psyche. The false, vague, and misleading ideals of liberties infiltrated my upbringing, grooming me for a problematic journey in life. I must revisit moments of my childhood to redefine, reshape and rebuild myself.
The history of families and the economy in the early 1900s piqued my interest. For this project I felt that engaging with the community through material and objects and collaborating with brilliant progressive artists would be an amazing experience. The main difference with this collaborative project is communication and consideration of space with other artists since with solo efforts my focus is only on the audience. The meaning of the two installations speaks to the spirit of magnificently broken individuals, determined to triumph “Against All Odds” (Tupac Shakur). My work speaks to those who feel voiceless, and my fearlessness to represent them puts me in the conversations of Visionaries. My biggest challenge is time and figuring out how the work will live after the exhibition; the impact of the works will cease to exist after the pieces are removed. The greatest reward is to learn and work with other artists in the space.
About the Artist
Jermaine Ollivierre was born and raised in West Philadelphia, surviving the 1985 Move bombing, which significantly impacted his upbringing and practice. Ollivierre received his AFA at Delaware County Community College (2011-13) and went on to study painting and sculpture at the Tyler School of Art (2015-17). He speaks to the complicated American landscape, which depicts both beautiful and deplorable moments interwoven into the fabric of society. Ollivierre creates opportunities for dialogue among urban, rural, and suburban environments by using the commonalities of lived experiences and personal effects to dissolve inflexible viewpoints. Ollivierre's work identifies with the misunderstood, denied, rejected, and abandoned—but who, through adversity, found solutions. He has exhibited at Temple University's Tyler School of Art, Delaware County Community College, the Mural Arts Gallery, the Asian Arts Initiative, Philadelphia's Art in City Hall, the Da Vinci Art Alliance, the Curio Theatre, and at various SEPTA transit locations. Publications, artist features, and interviews include Queens Tribune, Call + Response Journal, The Communitarian, and The Tab. Jermaine Ollivierre currently lives and works in Philadelphia.