TheArtGorgeous - Issue 7 Fall/Winter 2019

All image credits: Olivia Locher
In art as in film, her tastes skew towards the fantastical. Growing
up in idyllic isolation in the woods of Pennsylvania, she claims
she was loner as a child. “I was home-schooled and my parents
really allowed me to have as much creativity as I wanted. I
feel like every day of my life revolved around reading fashion
magazines and playing dress-up. And then, around the time
I was in high school, I found a camera and I started trying to
imitate what I saw in magazines. Using myself, using friends,
and I think that foundation just allowed me to always be in this
dreamer kind of state, where I can separate myself from reality
in dreamlands.”
One might think that this escapist superpower would come in handy
in the age of Brexit and Trump, but these days, Locher doesn’t shy
away from reality as much as she once might have. In 2017, she
created a social mediafriendly
series called
#45protestsigns, designed
for easy sharing online and
IRL. “I thought it would
be possible for people to
download them, print
them, and use them their
own way, which was cool
because I saw a few people
did do that, and that was
awesome,” she said.
On the oft-raised question
of art and politics, Locher
said, “I think politics
just naturally seep in the
work because of your own
frustration or wanting to
make a commentary on
what’s going on. I never
tried to be deliberately
political, but I think it’s just
a way of expressing your
rage, or your thoughts.”
Typically, however, Locher’s
work falls closer to fashion
houses than to the White
House. The little girl who
spent her days poring over
fashion magazines must
have nearly perished from
excitement when W Magazine commissioned her to shoot fashion week.
Her stints in the fashion world find a way of seeping into her own work.
“I would go to a shoot and it would be hard for me to turn off things
that I heard, or they would keep inspiring me and popping up into my
personal projects. So I think that the more and more that I’m exposed to
that world, the more ideas I get about it.”
How to Freshen Up, 2019, Archival Pigment Print
Her latest idea is a long-term project born from a collaboration
with a W Magazine beauty editor. This forthcoming beauty
book will transcend the fashion industry’s traditionally narrow,
prescriptive notions of beauty in favor of a holistic approach.
Rooted in wellness and self-expression, Locher’s own ideas about
beauty are in constant evolution. “I think [beauty is] just people
who beat to their own drum,” she said. “For the longest time, I was
thinking beauty was such a specific thing, but the more and more
that I meet other artist, just people working in the industry, you
realize beauty is anything and everything. So this project, I hope,
can convey a large message of what beauty is.”
By her own definition, Olivia Locher is certainly beautiful.
Practicing what she preaches, she makes wellness a daily priority
with a collection of self-care rituals. Even the artistic process
becomes a channel for healing. “It’s funny, because whenever I
make photos, I don’t necessarily think of people seeing them.
They almost feel like exercises that I need to go through myself,”
rework and release the project.
she said. “Whenever
I make a photo, I feel
really happy that I did
it, and I guess that could
be a stopping point
for me. It almost feels
like therapy, but then
deciding to share it,
that’s kind of the final
step.”
Luckily, sharing does
play into the process, so
we can all look forward
to more work from
Locher in the years to
come. Wary of becoming
a one-hit wonder, she’s
open to new ideas and
new media, and excited
to see what the creative
muses will deliver with
time. Besides her beauty
book, she’s currently
working on an album
with her roommate
and brother, musician
Brandon Locher. After
their mom found a hard
drive of music the two
made when Olivia was
16 and Brandon was
22, the two decided to
Perhaps longing for the sylvan seclusion of her formative years,
Locher might be sharing her future projects from a little cabin in
the forest. “This is maybe premature, but I’m looking at a house
in the woods to move out of the city eventually. It’s been a goal of
mine for a long time, but my goal would be to only have a landline
and turn on the cell phone when you need it.”
Until then, catch her creating, dreaming and floating through the
city on airplane mode. @olivialocher
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