Spring 2026 Cycle – Art
Richmond, VA oliviashermanstudio.com

Spring 2026 Cycle – Art
Richmond, VA  oliviashermanstudio.com

My paintings blend elements of personal narrative, fantasy, and history. Using a fluctuating personal iconography alongside loose historical references, I grapple with the shifting, often contradictory nature of contemporary life. The works use saturated colors, manipulated perspectives, and familiar motifs to spark a tension between the real and fictional, the playful and foreboding. I often draw from my background in Classics, pulling elements from antiquity to consider the cyclical nature of history and imagine where we may be headed. By mixing artifacts, modern commodities, and statuesque human presences, I explore the intertwined nature of myth, desire, and inherited beliefs, asking how we are shaped by our collective past and ensnared within the complexities of our present. Olivia Sherman is a painter currently living and working in Richmond, Virginia. She earned bachelor's degrees in Classics and Painting from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, and an MFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Her paintings have been included in exhibitions throughout the US, including at Massey Klein Gallery and Temple Contemporary, and have been featured in Visionary Projects NYC’s Directory and New American Paintings.

My paintings blend elements of personal narrative, fantasy, and history. Using a fluctuating personal iconography alongside loose historical references, I grapple with the shifting, often contradictory nature of contemporary life. The works use saturated colors, manipulated perspectives, and familiar motifs to spark a tension between the real and fictional, the playful and foreboding. I often draw from my background in Classics, pulling elements from antiquity to consider the cyclical nature of history and imagine where we may be headed. By mixing artifacts, modern commodities, and statuesque human presences, I explore the intertwined nature of myth, desire, and inherited beliefs, asking how we are shaped by our collective past and ensnared within the complexities of our present. Olivia Sherman is a painter currently living and working in Richmond, Virginia. She earned bachelor's degrees in Classics and Painting from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, and an MFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Her paintings have been included in exhibitions throughout the US, including at Massey Klein Gallery and Temple Contemporary, and have been featured in Visionary Projects NYC’s Directory and New American Paintings.