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Crawl Space
Olivia Faith Harwood

April 04, 2025 – May 11, 2025

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(Philadelphia, PA) Fuller Rosen Gallery is proud to present Crawl Space, a new solo exhibition by Olivia Faith Harwood. At the heart of Crawl Space is an ode to the monstrous feminine—a raw and unapologetic dive into the expectations, fears, and generational experiences that shape Harwood’s studio practice and selfhood. Her compositional blend of memory based imagery with radiant objects imbues her haunting self-portraits with an eternal depth of mystery and ecstasy.

Join us for an opening reception of Crawl Space at Fuller Rosen Gallery on First Friday, April 04 from 6-9 pm.

Olivia Faith Harwood, The Option to Choose, 2025, acrylic gouache and collage on panel

Inspired by board games, girlhood wonder, and folklore, Olivia Faith Harwood’s compositions captivate viewers with piercing eye contact and intensity. Household objects, trinkets, and scavenged sea glass swirl around her surreal paintings and sculptures, catching the eye like the glint of an earring on asphalt. She observes Oregon ferns with the same reverence as the shells collected from Florida’s beaches, where her family resides. Her dreamscapes draw from the places she calls home—Wisconsin, Oregon, and Florida—melding these environments into rich, phantasmagorical scenes. Through a vivid color palette, her work transports audiences to these familiar terrains, evoking both nostalgia and unease. These landscapes serve as portals into her interior worlds, revealing layers of trauma, rage, and deep emotion.

Olivia Faith Harwood, detail from The Option to Choose, 2025, acrylic gouache and collage on panel

Blending nostalgia with societal critique, Crawl Space draws from girlhood memories—playrooms, childhood toys, whispered secrets—and juxtaposes them with the realities of womanhood. The result is a visually arresting and emotionally charged experience where creatures, monsters, and hybrid forms serve as guardians, protectors, and manifestations of resilience. Harwood’s work is about reclaiming power, confronting inherited behaviors, and embracing the untamed. It’s about protecting the girl Harwood once was and the women around her who continue to fight for agency and respect. The use of self portraiture, not necessarily using facial features but recognizable imagery, aids an audience in connecting with the canvas’ complex content.

Olivia Faith Harwood, detail from Crawl Space, 2025

Guardian Angel depicts multiple layers of memories and time. The wolf, hawk, cow, snake, eel, and octopus all blend to create a silhouette that resembles a biblically accurate angel. The angel protects all of the memories—a day on the river with friends, a Playmobil castle from the shared playroom with her sister—with the heart as its final layer; open and beating. Intertwined with one another, Harwood’s memories morph into a new expanse contained only by the edges of the canvas.

Olivia Faith Harwood, Guardian Angel, 2025, acrylic gouache and acrylic on canvas

Crawl Space harnesses Harwood’s anger and frustration, but also her fondness and love. It intertwines girlhood memories with current headlines and allows her to cope however she needs to. The artwork does not keep its hands to itself. From fiery depictions of feminine rage to intimate recollections of childhood wonder, Crawl Space challenges viewers to confront what lurks beneath the surface—both in the hidden corners of our homes and within ourselves. Join us at Fuller Rosen Gallery for this unforgettable exhibition.

Olivia Faith Harwood (b. 1999, San Diego, CA, she/her) is a painter and contemporary maker living in Portland, OR. She received her BFA in Painting at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2021. Her work has been written about in Artforum and The Buckman Journal, she recently received a Regional Arts and Culture Council Spring 2024 Arts3C Grant, and has been a featured artist on Portland’s long-running Art & About blog. Harwood has exhibited as a solo artist at One Grand Gallery in Portland, OR and her current show Crawl Space is her second solo exhibition at Fuller Rosen Gallery.

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