Iris Ollier is an artist based in Edinburgh, Scotland, working primarily through sculpture. Her practice deals with themes of embodied perception and the corporeal act of looking; how objects structure attention and shape experience. Vision is predicated by the body's position in space; the body functions as the core around which all space expands. Ollier makes objects that are interactive without needing to be touched. Predominantly, she works with materials that alter light’s behaviour like magnifying lenses and unbreakable steel mirrors. These materials bounce light back, emphasising the spatial negotiation between onlooker and looked-at, consequently resisting photographic reproduction. In an image-saturated world increasingly governed by the attention economy, Ollier’s work reflects on the implied truth of photographic imagery, competing threads in online discourse - how they might be represented symbolically - and motifs of unravelling. We see only what we look at.
Alongside her studio practice, Ollier is a founding member of Votive Gallery, an itinerant, artist-led exhibition project operating in and around Edinburgh. Votive functions as a practical response to limited infrastructure for emerging artists in the city, prioritising long-form engagement, shared resources and sustained critical exchange over visibility or event-led programming.
Alongside her studio practice, Ollier is a founding member of Votive Gallery, an itinerant, artist-led exhibition project operating in and around Edinburgh. Votive functions as a practical response to limited infrastructure for emerging artists in the city, prioritising long-form engagement, shared resources and sustained critical exchange over visibility or event-led programming.