Olivia Mikolai Ridge

SAIC SHOWS 2022 GRADUATE EXHIBITIONS

Graduates

SAIC SHOWS 2022 GRADUATE EXHIBITIONS

Master of Fine Arts in Studio, Photography

Olivia Mikolai Ridge (b. 1992) investigates systems of representation. Tracing the intersections of voyeurism and violence, she confronts media infrastructures of myth building and nostalgic fabrication. Her collaborations with the camera bring together interviews, photographic portraits, and immersive installations to trace collective desires and reimagine our roles within criminalized landscapes. Each research-based exploration builds on her professional experiences as a television extra, tour-guide, and assistant to an Ancient Greek archaeologist. She holds a BFA from Concordia University in Montréal where she served as the President of the Concordia Photography Collective. Most recently, she is the recipient of the James Weinstein Memorial Fellowship.

Olivia Mikolai Ridge - City on the Screen

City on the Screen, 2021, Part of 'Out of Place,' a Billboard Exhibition curated by Habibi House

Olivia Mikolai Ridge - Detective Halstead

Detective Halstead, 2021, Risograph print, 8 x 10 in.

Olivia Mikolai Ridge - Exhibit J.VI – 10414 S Ave J

Exhibit J.VI – 10414 S Ave J, 2021, Risograph print, 11 x 17 in.

Olivia Mikolai Ridge - “Who do you want to play?” with Brad, Teala, and Roy

“Who do you want to play?” with Brad, Teala, and Roy, 2021

Olivia Mikolai Ridge - Season 9, Episode 5

Season 9, Episode 5, 2021, Risograph print, 11 x 17 in.

Framing my investigations as detective work, I stalk the filming sets of Chicago PD. These productions impose a second, fictive city on the physical landscapes of Chicago, which is centered around criminological narratives. Expounding on the culture of compulsive binge-watching, I exaggerate the voyeurism of spectatorship to discover how cinematic fiction is created, how it imposes on reality, and is consumed by the public.

In my studio, I invite aspiring actors currently working background predominantly on Chicago PD. There, we create their headshots and have conversations about the way they are represented on the show and their desires for representation in the future. I ask them, “who do you want to play?”. The collection of photographs that we make together are firstly for their own use to forward their own careers. The sessions are driven by their aspirations and personalities to create the photographs they want of themselves. This collaborative performance looks toward the background, bringing into focus the stories and desires of people that lend their labor to plotlines. To confront dominant narratives and representations reliant on gendered and racialized stereotypes, I bring together portraits, interviews, and photographic backdrops that reimagine our roles in this city and propose alternative stories for the screen.

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