“I would like to consider myself an artist who invites all parts of me into the room.” That’s a line that will stay with me for a while, and it was also the first thing Lovie Olivia told me in a recent conversation about her multifaceted piece “Space Scape Cinema,” which she completed only after it was installed as part of her Space Scape exhibition at Tinney Contemporary. This is the Houston-based artist’s second show at the downtown Nashville gallery — the first was 2023’s Beauty as a Method — but it is her first solo show since the gallery has begun to represent her, actively engaging with the artist’s creative growth and career.
While speaking about her exhibition, Olivia discussed influences ranging from Carolee Schneemann to Octavia Butler, from Pompeiian frescoes to contemporary film. But given the intensity of this particular artwork and the experience of creating it on-site in Nashville, this conversation has been condensed to focus on that process.
“Space Scape Cinema,” the multipanel mural that you made on-site at Tinney, is such a layered piece. Was making it an extension of your work in fresco, or is this more of a newer iteration or evolution of it?
It’s an evolution, for sure. I’m always challenging what pre-exists, because I think that because of my multiple identities and the way I walk in the world, I think that allows me — or I think it’s a necessity — to question and to counter what exists already.
‘Beauty as a Method’ is on view through Oct. 28 at Tinney Contemporary
Two things about the work are particularly interesting to me. First, the assembly of the work out of fragments and pieces, and then what you’ve made out of that once the structure is up on the wall and in place. Is that a more intuitive process, or do you already have it in your mind what you want it to be?
I had a show at Tinney in 2023, and there were about 12 leftover panels that I didn’t use. Those panels went back to my studio, and for the last two years I have spent making marks, scores, impasto caked-on mud layers. I’m constantly, constantly, constantly doing these sort of intuitive motions on all of the slabs that I keep in the studio. I’m literally just layering what I call auto-history. Because I like the act of excavation, I am trying to apply something that I can go back and later excavate and realize. … I can’t say that it wasn’t met with some challenges, right? Because what I didn’t consider was the mess that it would make on such beautiful black floors. [Laughs] You know, there are going to be challenges, but I think that those challenges make the work even better.
Detail of 'Space Scape Cinema," Lovie Olivia
That’s the thing about site-specific art-making — you don’t always foresee having to contend with those, like, super glossy reflective floors, or the big picture windows looking out into downtown Nashville tourism.
Right, or the heat of someone’s breath behind you while you’re painting!
And making the work on-site really emphasizes your presence here. You know, the artist is always present in the artwork, but when place is also present, it lends an extra layer of personal history, of interest.
Right, and cheers to Tinney, cheers to [director] Joshua and [owner] Susan and [associate] Hunt for trusting me to do so, because we all learned, you know, what’s possible.
