Olivia Van Oot

Olivia Van Oot is a wood­worker based in Rochester, NY. She grad­u­ated from Maine College of Art & Design in the Wood­work­ing and Furni­ture Design program, complet­ing her Bach­e­lors in Fine Arts in May, 2024. She is currently attend­ing Rochester Insti­tute of Tech­nol­ogy working towards her Masters in Fine Arts. Her work re-contex­tu­al­izes the histor­i­cal crafts process to draw atten­tion to gendered mate­r­ial and craft prac­tices. The objects she makes strive to evoke a feeling of comfort, safety and home while ques­tion­ing the soci­etal condi­tions that created these envi­ron­ments. Van Oot’s work is driven by this research as well as tradi­tional processes, often explor­ing cooper­ing, chair making, and marquetry. Van Oot was awarded the Windgate-Lamar fellow­ship in 2024.