David Olsen

My name is David Teng Olsen and I am currently an Associate Professor at Wellesley College. I am originally from Seattle, WA. I received my Bachelors of Fine Arts at the University of Washington and my MFA from University of Wisconsin – Madison. Before I entered graduate school I had the fortunate experience of studying in Rome and Taipei. As an undergraduate I spent over 5 years studying Bioengineering, which has a large influence on my artwork. During my time as a Bioengineer I illustrated and designed a Bioengineering textbook that is now the required text for Bioengineering classes at Stanford, Berkeley and UC Davis to include a few. 

 The world of science intrigued me very much but I was disenchanted by the compartmentalization of the field and how little there was in the way of freedom to choose the ideas that I wanted to explore. Instead, most of the research went toward developments dictated by modern culture such as obesity, and sexual prowess; subjects I was not necessarily excited to research. I came to the conclusion that Art would be a better venue to thoroughly explore the science that intrigued me and bring it into a different light. As a scientific illustrator I was fascinated with the idea that the concepts I was illustrating had never been described before as visual objects. Rather, they only existed conceptually as mathematical formulas and theory. Because of the unique position I was in, the ability to understand the concepts being conveyed and interpreting them as visual objects, I found a vast fountain of inspiration and knowledge from which I could create both paintings and sculptures. From simple two and three dimensional forms, using a contemporary vernacular, I had the ability to describe these complex theories, believed by many to be the mechanisms of life, into easily to distinguished characters and forms that create environments which anyone can explore and see clearly; a diagram that describes many functions of the internal microscopic world that exist in every complex living creature. As I continue to explore the relationship between science and art I find that I am becoming most interested in how my art makes the audience and myself feel both mentally and physically. Always looking for commonalities between my experiences in life and the audience.

David Olsen’s Work

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