About Me

DANA OLSON (PETTIT)

Dana is a Nashville-based professional artist, well known for Fine art and Abstract Expressionism. She studied and painted the human figure every day at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, before pursuing an old technique in France during two summers under a couple of different masters.

Realism painting had taken hold of her when she started as a new painter. She had created many realistic portraits when the idea of creating a Jesus one came up. Her Catholic upbringing left her rather unsatisfied and was left still very curious about God, Jesus and faith. Once the initial Jesus portrait took flight, a whole new journey began which led to creating this series, and the rest is history. 

Dana painted, traveled and studied in several art studios from Chicago to Paris before marrying a good man in Nashville. They now have two little kids (her truest masterpieces) that they are raising there as well as where she continues to finish the series. 

 

 

ARTIST STATEMENT

I invite you to sit and experience these portraits in your own way. Every moment of every day, we are being marketed to and distracted from our lives - leaving little, if any, time to think for ourselves. 

Our collective minds and attention have become a commodity, with most folks not even aware of how much we are being studied by big tech; i.e. Artificial Intelligence (AI). The algorithms that AI generates for us individually caters to whichever way of thinking one prefers - allowing each person to control their own reality; thus, supporting their way of thinking further. This eventually replaces natural human interaction with intolerance and bias.

The biggest issue at hand, in my opinion, is the extraction of God out of our lives. Since COVID, the majority of churches are closed, news sources are keeping us in a constant state of fear, and we’re turning to social media for “human connection”. Even before that, our culture has already been consumed with materialism, lured in with sexualized content & fashion, and our own busy lives. Between the shutdowns, shut downs and culture, there is little room (let alone reminders) to have faith.

These portraits of Christ are here to gently invite you to explore and have your own dialogue about what you see, what is happening, what you’re feeling, what you’re not feeling, etc. I simply wanted to insert His face into society and the rest is up to you and God. Each thought is valid and worth exploring.

In addition, I intentionally created a spectrum of different images so that (hopefully) you can identify with at least one. That is the access point of which you can now compare and contrast the others in relation to the one you relate to. All of these portraits have the same message, just told in different ways. So the goal is to come to your own terms to interrelate them, and ultimately experience unity, inclusivity and equality.

Finally, there is the visual art educational aspect. Most folks don’t know where to begin with art and shy away thinking it’s just not for them. There are many styles and hopefully this series enlightens you to understanding the differences between visual languages. Art is for everyone, and so is Jesus.

Follow along with project truth on facebook and Instagram: @DanaOlsonArt