Biography:

Olana Light is a multidisciplinary artist based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK. She has an MA from Goldsmiths (2020) and a BA from Southampton Solent University (2017).

Recent awards include the Arts Council England DYCP (2024), CAS Emerging Sculptors Award (2023), Southampton City Gallery Billboard Commission (2023); Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grant (2022 and 2021); Blue Sky Ideas Art&Heritage Award (2022); StreetLife&Aesthetica Changing Rooms Commission Prize (2022); SpudOPEN Judge’s and Public Choice Award (2022); The Spring Open Competition Award (2022); the Little Forest Open Competition (2022); ‘a space’ arts Lucky Dip Bursary (2021); Zealous Stories Sculpture (2021); Sunny Art Prize Award (2020); and the Goldsmiths International Response Scholarship Award (2017). She was also shortlisted for the 6th John Ruskin Prize (2024); Quay Arts Open: The Art of Sculpture (2023); CAS Open_Open (2023); The Next Thing Award (2022); 8th International Marianne Brandt Award (2022); NAE Open (2022); the Zealous Stories: Short Film (2022); The Next Thing Award (2021); Zealous Stories Performance (2020); Batsford Prize Award (2019 and 2017); Harvest Short Film Competition (2019); Visual Art Open Prize (2018); Nasty Women International Art Prize (2018), and the Platform Graduate Award (nominated by Aspex Gallery, 2017).

She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally. Recent solo exhibitions include Let It Breathe, Hidden Wardrobe, 'a space' arts, Southampton; out I side I in, The Smallest Gallery, Soho; We Are Not Ourselves, The Stone Space, and Jeannie Avent Gallery, London.

Olana has completed residencies at La Vista in Tenerife (2023), EcoSuites in Greece (2022); School of Design and Fashion in Southampton (2019); Aspex Gallery in Portsmouth (2017 and 2018); Sticks Gallery in Fareham (2017).

Recent publications include Ludvig Rage, Inside Artist, and Trebuchet.

Artist Statement:

Light’s practice moves between sculpture, performance, and moving images and delves into the complexity of identity, capturing the many layers that make up an individual's sense of self. Her ongoing exploration of finding a sense of belonging and discovering her place in the world leads her to realize that we are an integral part of nature. This idea of unity with nature is central to her work.

Audiences are invited to witness the human seamlessly merging with the natural world, creating a collective 'we-world' that transcends societal divisions and offers an inclusive space where everyone feels a sense of belonging. By freeing herself from societal norms, Light delves into the essence of humanity and our place in the universe.

Nature serves as an abundant source of inspiration for Light, driving her to envision a future where we harmonize with the natural world. She aims to inspire others to coexist with nature and work towards a brighter future. Through her art, Light sparks conversations about our relationship with nature, the essence of identity, and the accessibility of art to all.

Light's live performances in public places aim to integrate art into everyday life, providing access for ordinary people and passersby who may otherwise be unable to experience the arts due to financial or other barriers that prevent them from visiting galleries.

CV:

Olana Light

Portsmouth, United Kingdom

Memberships:

Member Royal Society of Sculptors
Studio Member Art Space Portsmouth
Member Society of Scottish Artists

Education:

2021 - 2022 Artist Professional Development Programme, Newplatform.art
2017 - 2020 MFA Fine Art, Goldsmiths University of London
2014 - 2017 BA First Class Honours Degree in Fine Art, Southampton Solent University

2013 - 2014 Art and Design BTEC Diploma Level 3, Portsmouth Highbury College

Awards/ Competitions/Commissions:

2024

Alpine Fellowship Visual Art Prize, shortlisted
Arts Council England: Developing Your Creative Practice Grant
Clyde&Co Art Award, shortlisted
BizBubble Modern Maker Award, finalist
Aesthetica Art Prize, longlisted
The 6th John Ruskin Prize, shortlisted

2023

Arts&Heritage Digital Winter Commission, supported by English Heritage
Zealous Amplify: Environment, shortlisted
Mela Monument, Co-creating Public Space: John Hansard Gallery, shortlisted
SpudOPEN: Digital Dreaming, 2023, shortlisted
CAS Emerging Sculptors Development Award, finalist
Quay Arts Open 2023: The Art of Sculpture, shortlisted
CAS Open_Open 2023, shortlisted
March, Found Cities, Lost Objects: Women in the City Billboard Commission winner, curated by Lubaina Himid, a partnership between Arts Council Collection, Southampton City Gallery, and ‘a space’ arts

2022

SpudOPEN 2022 Judge’s and Public Choice Award
The Next Thing Award 2022, shortlisted
StreetLife&Aesthetica Changing Rooms Commission Prize, winner
The 8th International Marianne Brandt Award, shortlisted
Arts Council England Project Grant Fly Like a Butterfly
Contemporary Art Volunteer Ambassadors: Blue Sky Ideas Art&Heritage Award
The Spring Open Competition Prize, winner
NAE Open 2022, shortlisted
Zealous Stories: Short Film 2022, shortlisted
Little Forest 4th Plinth Open Competition 2022, winner
Orbit, Ridley Road Market Bar London, commissioned

2021

Next Thing Award 2021, Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre, shortlisted
Arts Council England Project Grant Search to Belong
Stamp Festival, Hamburg, commissioned
Zealous Stories: Sculpture 2021, winner
Batsford Art Prize 2020-2021, Fine Art category, shortlisted
Platform Art Projects Open Call, commissioned
Zealous Stories: Photography 2021, shortlisted
Lucky Dip Bursary ‘a space’ arts, winner

2020

Sunny Art Prize 2020, winner
Southampton from your SOfa, commissioned by Southampton’s B. I .D. Ltd
Zealous Stories: Performance 2020, shortlisted
Arts Council England Covid-19 Emergency Fund

2019

Harvest Short Film Competition 2019, shortlisted
London Contemporary Art Prize, longlisted
Batsford Prize Award 2019, shortlisted
The News Guide Award Portsmouth, Best Visual Artist, runner-up

2018

Journeys Festival International Competition LookUp Portsmouth, finalist
Nasty Women International Art Prize 2018, shortlisted
Visual Art Open Prize 2018, Digital Category, finalist
The News Guide Award Portsmouth, Best Visual Artist, shortlisted

2017

Platform Graduate Award 2017, shortlisted (nominated by Aspex)
Goldsmiths International Response Scholarship Award
National Open Art Competition 2017, shortlisted in the online Galleries
Artisan Photography Competition, Digital Creative Category, winner
Fine Art Award, Southampton Solent University
Batsford Prize Award 2017, shortlisted

2016

Southampton Walkway Open Submission, finalist
Fareham Art Open 2016, shortlisted

Solo Exhibition:

2022 Let It Breathe, Hidden Wardrobe, ‘a space’ art, Southampton

2021 out I side I in, The Smallest Gallery, London

Automatic Sight: Autofókusz, Museum of Unfulfilled Dreams, Fringe Arts Bath

We Are Not Ourselves, Jeannie Avent Gallery, London

Portal Fantasy, commissioned by K6 Gallery, Southampton

2020 We Are Not Ourselves, The Stone Space, London

2018 Arcane World, Hidden Wardrobe, Southampton

ArtVaults:Live 2018, Canute’s Palace, Southampton

Selected Performances:

2024

The Caterpillar, Rebirth and Regeneration, The Bulb, Southampton
The Birch Tree, Sir Harold Hillier Garden, Romsey
The Birch Tree, Above Bar Street, Southampton

2023

Fly Like a Butterfly, Hot Walls Christmas Market, Portsmouth
Fly Like a Butterfly, The Imaginarium of Dreams, The StoreHouse N9, Historic Dockyard, Portsmouth
Invisible Woman, Awe and Wonder, Fringe Arts Bath
Fly Like a Butterfly, Art in the Garden, Little Forest Land Art, Wickham
Fly Like a Butterfly, Making Space, Havant, Hampshire
Fly Like a Butterfly, Guildhall Square, Southampton
Fly Like a Butterfly, Winter Sculpture Park, Gallery No.32, London

2022

Fly Like a Butterfly, West Street, Havant, Hampshire
The Light Festival/Lantern Parade, Fratton Big Local, We Shine, Portsmouth

2021

The Imaginarium of Dreams, We Shine,The Studio Theatre, Portsmouth Guildhall
Search to Belong, God’s House Tower, Southampton
Search to Belong, Above Bar Street, Southampton
Search to Belong, The Arches Open Studious, Southampton
We Are Not Ourselves, Art in the Garden, Little Forest Land Art, Wickham
Adapting to the New Reality, Above Bar Street, Southampton

2020

We Are Not Ourselves, Chalton Gallery, London
I Am Not Myself, Houskeeping, Jeannie Avent Gallery, London
Goldsmiths Degree Show, St. James Hatcham Church, Goldsmiths, London

2019

I Am Not Myself, Mangoes into a Pub, Alfred Arms, Southampton

2018

The Other, commissioned by ‘a space’ arts, Canute's Palace, Southampton

Residencies:

2023 La Vista Residency, Tenerife

2022 ecoSuites art Residency, Tristinika Beach, Greece

2019 School of Art, Design and Fashion, Southampton Solent University

2018 Look Up Residency, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth
2017 Platform Graduate Award Alumni Residency, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth

Conversation/ Talks/ Seminars/Publications

2023 Artists in Conversation: Lubaina Himid talks to Sarah Filmer, Ellen Gillet and Olana Light, Southampton City Art Gallery

2022 Artist Talk curated by Kate Street, Art Space Portsmouth

2021 Artist Close Up, interview

Exit, Ludvig Rage Book, London
Corona Art, Ludvig Rage Book, London

2020 Chalton Gallery, Inside Artist Issue 17
Sacred Vestments: Internal Roles. The crush of bodies at Chalton Gallery, Trebuchet

Transformation: Everything Flows, ArtConnect Magazine

2019 APERO Catalogue Fine Art Publication ‘Dreams’

Group Exhibitions:

2024

EAST QUAY OPEN 2024: OPEN ABOUT IDENTITY, East Quay, Watchet
MK Calling 2024, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes
Rebirth and Regeneration, The Bulb, Southampton
Transformation, Plas Brondanw 2024 Open Exhibition, Wales
Eight, CAS Emerging Sculptor Development Award Exhibition, Sir Harold Hillier Garden
Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition(Longlisted Artists), York
The 6th John Ruskin Prize: Seeing the Unseen, Hearing the Unspoken, The Byuo Store, London
Open Art Exhibition 2024, Gosport Museum and Art Gallery

2023

Tap Mini Fringe Festival, The Queens Head, London
SSA 125TH Annual Exhibition I CUTLOG I VIEWPOINT, The Maclaurin Art Gallery, Ayr, Scotland
SSA 125TH Annual Exhibition: The Maclaurin Art Gallery, Ayr, Scotland
SpudOPEN 2023: Digital Dreaming, Spud, Sway, Hampshire
Open 2023: The Art of Sculpture, Quay Arts, Isle of Wight
GRIPE, Fringe Arts Bath 2023
RIPE FIVE, God’s House Tower, ‘a space’ arts, Southampton
Open 2023, curated by Rosalind Davis and Susan Francis, Chapel Arts Studios
Art in the Garden, Little Forest Land Art, Wickham
Common Thread, Guildhall Square, Southampton
Video Art Maiden, ToPikap, Thessaloniki, Greece
Inspirational Women Artists, ‘a space’ arts, God’s House Tower
Grad Race, Bridport Arts Centre, Bridport
4th Wall Video Art, Axis Screening, Lisbon, Portugal

2022

The Next Thing Award, Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre
SpudOPEN 2023: Our Changing Landscape, Sway, Hampshire
Grad Race, Bridport Arts Centre, Bridport
4th Wall Video Art, Prospect Art Screening, Los Angeles, US
RE-IMAGINING WONDERLAND, Edinburgh
Society of Scottish Artists Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
Visions in the Nunnery, Nunnery Gallery, London
Aesthetica&Streetlife Changing Rooms Commission StreetLife Hub, York
Fringe 2022 OPEN Eco, Outdoor Hub Worthing Seafront
Issue 28 Metamorphosis, Haus-a-Rest, online
Inspired, Hampshire Open Studios, Making Space, Havant
Drift, Summerhall Cinema, Edinburgh
Open Exhibition 2022, The Spring, Havant
Open Exhibition 2022, Southampton City Art Gallery
NAE Open 2022, New Art Exchange Gallery, Nottingham
ecoSuites art Residency exhibition, Tristinika Beach, Greece
Little Forest Open Competition exhibition, North Boarhunt
Spring Exhibition, Lighthouse Gallery, London
Nasty Women Revive, Open House Hackney, London
Inspirational Women Artist, GHT, ‘a space’ arts, Southampton
WTD 2:2, Art Gallery, Middlesbrough, online

2021

The Next Thing Award 2021, Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Park
SHIM Eco Inaugural Show, URSA Gallery, Bridgeport, US
The Imaginarium of Dreams, We Shine, Portsmouth Guildhall
Lucky Dip Exhibition, GHT, ‘a space’ arts, Southampton
Arches Open Studios, Southampton
b-side Festival, Royal Manor Theatre, Portland
This is Not a Shop! Fringe Arts Bath, No 5 Broad St, Bath
ONE: Pandemic, Walk_Bye and Open Road Poetry, virtual
Birkenhead International Film Festival (BIFF)
Art In The Garden, Little Forest Land Art, North Boarhunt
Platform Art Projects Open Call, online exhibition
Alone, Together, curated by Shannon Skye Robinson, virtual
Wilderness, The Haven, St Pancras New Church, London
The Castle, Arthousehaus, London
Human Was Here, The Virtual Museum of Anthropocene
The Identity, New Haus Gallery/Kofferraum Haus Gallery, Issue 9

2020

36th Annual Open Exhibition, Southwark Park Galleries, London
Without Borders, World University Of Design Delhi NCR, India
Sheroes in Quarantine Part II Virtual, London-art Creative
Sunny Art Prize 2020, Sunny Art Centre, London
Queens Hall Arts Digital - Micro Commission, Hexham
First-Time Filmmaker Sessions September 2020 P7, online
Degree Show, Goldsmiths University of London
Between Surrealism and Magical Realism, Beam Collective, online
Online Performance Art Festival 2020
Elysium International Film week, Elysium Gallery, Swansea
Person and the Otherness of Nature virtual, curated by Adele Lazzeri and Toby Kid
If 2020, 24-hour International Improvisational Festival, online
Lost, Lacuna Festival de Arte Lanzarote Fuerteventura digital, Spain
Post Quarantine I, curated by Maria Bourika, Video Art Miden Online, Greece
COVENT-19 online, curated by Faryal Arif & Nadin Hassan
The Sensation of Home, curated by Lisa Marinello, Fringe Arts Bath Festival
Girlhood, curated by Jess Holtaway, Fringe Arts Bath Festival virtual
Really//Real, curated by Toby Rainbird, Fringe Arts Bath Festival virtual
Homemade Mango Chutney virtual, A Space Arts, Southampton
In 24-Hours virtual, curated by Ayshia Taskin, The Wall Space Gallery, Scotland
Housekeeping, curated by Jessica Mankowska, Jennie Avent Gallery, London
Of Streets and Monsters, OKNA - Espaco Cultural, Portugal

2019

Open Projection 4: Spectacle, Coventry Cathedral
Nasty Women Exhibition, Bovenfoyer van De Balie, Amsterdam
Black and White Christmas, Pineapple Black Gallery, Middlesbrough
Symbol, Cupola Gallery, Sheffield
Laboratory of Dissent 2: Inside/Outside, The Screen, curated by Susan Francis, Winchester School of Art
Harvest Short Film Competition Shortlist Screening, Lower Hewood Farm, Chard
Open Projections 3: curated by Martin Green, Coventry Cathedral
Open Show, Yellow Edge Gallery, Gosport
NOW Digital Festival, curated by Genetic Moo, Margate
Mangoes into a Pub, Alfred Arms, Southampton
Open Mouth Film Festival, University of the Arts, London
Self-Service, curated by David Theobald and Genetic Moo, St John’s Waterloo, London
Fantastic and Strange, curated by Clare Winnan, Fringe Arts Bath Festival, Bath
Self, curated by Toby Rainbird, Fringe Arts Bath Festival, Bath
Made in Southampton, Re:So, Southampton
Perceptions, LoosenArt, MFR 19 Festival, Rome
The Body Language, Venice Carnival 2019, The Room Contemporary Art

2018

Visual Art Open Prize Exhibition, Chester Cathedral
Chester Arts Fair, Chester Racecourse
Journeys Festival International, LookUp: Searching for Home, Aspex Gallery, The Big Screen, No.6 Cinema, Southsea Library, Fratton Park, Portsmouth
Deptford X Festival, Gold X, Deptford Creek, London
End-Of-Residency Exhibition, Space Gallery, Fareham
Ripe Bananas, Alfred Arcade, Southampton
MFA Interim Show 2018, Goldsmiths University of London
Nasty Women International Art Prize Showcase Exhibition, Newcastle
Altered States, St John’s, Waterloo, London
This Temporary Matter, Fringe Arts Bath Festival, Bath
Efflorescence, Safehouse, London
My Neighbourhood, Aspex, Portsmouth
End-of-Residency studio exhibition, Aspex, Portsmouth

2017

November, Water Under The Bridge, Out of the Brew, New Cross, London
Platform 2017, Aspex, Portsmouth
Southampton Photography, The Artisan, Southampton
Fine Art Degree Show, Southampton Solent University
City and Life, Chongqing Real Estate College, China
Escape, Spark, Southampton

2016

Open Studios, Southampton Solent University
Barcelona International Art Fair 2016, Museu Martim de Barcelona
Fareham Art Open 2016, Sticks Gallery, Fareham
Abstract Art, Brick Lane Gallery, London
April, Versatility, Guildhall Square, Southampton