olek

User Bio

I am Olek. Loop after loop, hour after hour, my madness becomes crochet. Life and art are inseparable.
I was born Agata Oleksiak in Poland and in 2000 I escaped from the gray industrial city of Silesia and started growing my roots in New York City. I don’t know what I was thinking when I rediscovered my ability to crochet …… oh! I know what…. This technique allows me to do two things at once: to watch movies and make art. I love watching movies. They inspire my life, and conversely, life inspires me to watch certain films at a particular time. I measure time by how many movies I have seen. The bull took me 6 seasons of Lost, plus a few films… and the cover was originally created for a different show. His head took me all of Woody Allen’s movies available on instant watch on Netflix :-)

My work changes from place to place. With a miner’s work ethic, I long to delve deeper and deeper into my investigations. I want to introduce my creations to a broader audience every time…I want to move people on every possible level. I want to create a dialogue.

I wish I could crochet even faster… I wish my hands would not hurt…I wish my back would be stronger…
I have received a few grants, participated in a few residencies, had tons of show but for that I invite you to take a look at my CV.

My infamous crocheted pink bike on the LES was a beginning of a bigger splash. I followed a recipe I have learned by watching films. I introduced my audience to new crocheted objects step by step and I presented the Bull as the finale of a very wonderful, colorful, crocheted 2010!

If you want to know more about me…just follow the thread…the unraveling, the ephemeral part of my work that never lets me forget about the limited life of an art object and art concept, and hidden behind the crochet a story or two reveals itself….

Until the end of May I can be found in my LMCC Workspace residency in the Financial District, with a pile of movies to watch and a bottle of spiced Polish vodka, aggressively re-weaving the world as I see fit.