FRANK OLT
The Nassau County Museum of Art is delighted to welcome Frank Olt as its new Artist-in-Residence, inviting visitors to discover the creative process behind his distinctive fusion of ceramics, painting, and mixed media.
Drawing on the New York School tradition, Olt creates abstract works that unite the tactile qualities of ceramic forms and glazes with the luminous color and layered surfaces of encaustic painting. His compositions balance texture, color, and asymmetry, often evoking landscapes, horizons, suns, clouds, and fragments of the built environment.
Although a practitioner of more traditional ceramic techniques, many of Olt’s works fuse painted canvases and ceramics; this contrasts the glossy surfaces of glazed pottery with the elegant linen painted using encaustic (heated beeswax and colored pigment that cools and affixes to the canvas). Known for this innovative harmonizing of materials as well as painterly use of interesting glazes, his recent work also continues experimentation in releasing discernible subjects from the layered elements; machines as well as horizons, suns, and cloud forms.
Visitors are invited to explore Olt’s work during his first Open Studio at the Manes Center on November 1, at 4:30 pm, immediately following the Curator’s Talk at 3 pm. Step inside the artist’s world, notice the interplay of clay, color, and wax, and discover how unexpected materials can transform into compelling works of art.
Frank Olt will also hold a workshop at NCMA’s Manes Art Education Center – more details to come!
