The Daily Disrupted, 2018 (WIP)
Jem Olsen
Jem is a Ballarat based textile artist and activist with a particular interest in experimental print, collage and embroidery techniques using found objects and upcycled materials. Her work seeks to encourage critical reflection and discussion of current political, social and environmental issues. With a background in psychology and education, she also has a strong interest in the therapeutic outcomes to be gained from engaging in regular arts practice.
Three million a minute (2024)
16.5cm W x 17.5cm H
Discarded disposable covid mask, covid test instruction leaflet and disposable garment waste, cotton thread
Where once the disposable face mask was an item considered only necessary for use within healthcare settings, they have become a commonplace feature of everyday life since the first Covid-19 outbreak in 2020. It is estimated that at the height of the covid pandemic, three million disposable face masks were used every minute (Science Daily, 10 March 2021). Referencing the make-do approach of traditional patchwork quilting, “Three million a minute” is created from a discarded face mask and other covid-related medical waste items collected over the last few years; items that once helped provide physical security against infection as well as acting as a visible symbol of this. Whilst manufactured as disposable medical waste, this work deliberately repurposes these materials in a way reminiscent of how scrap fabrics were revered and reused in previous generations. From afar, the viewer might at first consider this piece to be a traditional hand-stitched quilt panel, only on closer inspection to find that the artist has machine-sewn reclaimed medical waste materials in a traditional-style quilt pattern. In doing so, the artist invites the viewer to reflect on their experience of the covid pandemic and its continued effect on our health, our communities, our environment and society at large.
Awards & Prizes
2023 Golden Textures Contemporary Quilt Award, Finalist
2022 International Art Textile Biennale, Finalist
2018 Buda Contemporary Textile Award, First Prize
Exhibitions
2025 Seasons of Women, Art Space Ballarat
2024 Craft Lab 24, The Mining Exchange, Creative City Ballarat
2024 Distortion: The Evolution of Body Enhancement, Textile Palette, Clunes
2024 CrossXpollinatioN, Colac & Performing Arts Centre
2023 Waste Not, Want Not, Geelong Arts Space
2023 Golden Textures, Central Goldfields Art Gallery, Maryborough
2023 Time for Stitch, Textile Palette, Clunes
2023 UNESCO City of Craft & Folk Art Display, Ballarat Town Hall
2023 Small Works Art Prize, Brunswick Street Gallery
2022 Stitching Change, Assembly Point, Naarm Textile Collective
2022 Honour a Woman, Art Space Ballarat, 13 Moons Collective
2022 Craft Lab 22, The Mining Exchange, Creative City Ballarat
2022 Stitching Change, FortyFiveDownstairs Gallery, Naarm Textile Collective
2021 Material Things, Blackcat Gallery, Tenfold Textile Collective
2020 Marking Time, Geelong Art Space
2020 Art of Making, Creative Ballarat (Online Adaptation)
2020 Doing It Differently, Geelong Art Space
2019 Fibre, Brunswick Street Gallery
2019 Make or Break, Brunswick Street Gallery, (Craft Cubed Festival)
2019 Forage, Neon Parlour, Tenfold Textile Collective
2019 Efflorescence, The Artist’s Guild, Docklands
2018 Broken Hill to Ballarat, Broken Hill CWA Fundraiser, Brunswick
2018 TRAIN/ENNIAL, C3 Gallery Annual Fundraiser, Abbotsford
2018 Buda Contemporary Textile Award, Castlemaine
2018 Extracted, Festival of Natural Dyes, RMIT University Brunswick Campus
2018 Second Skin, Backspace Gallery, Ballarat, Tenfold Textile Collective
2017 Seasonal Stories, Stitched-Up Textiles Festival, Wangaratta
2016 Background Noise, RMIT First Site Gallery, Tenfold Textile Collective
Education
2016 Certificate IV in Textile Design and Development, RMIT University
2002 Graduate Diploma of Education P-12, La Trobe University
2000 Graduate Diploma of Applied Psychology, Swinburne University
1998 Bachelor of Behavioural Science, La Trobe University
Workshops & Speaking Engagements
2025 Craft Lab 2025 Practitioner Panel, hosted by Lauren Matthews for
Creative City Ballarat, The Rare Trades Centre
2023 Embroidery stitch workshop (In the Company of Morris exhibition)
Art Gallery Ballarat
2023 International Art Textile Biennale, Artist Talk, FibreArts Australia,
East Gippsland Art Gallery
2022 Honouring story, identity and connection through textiles, Discussion
Panel Chair, Craft Lab 22, Creative City Ballarat, The Mining Exchange
2021 Message Up Your Apron, (with Kait James & Sharon McDonough) Art
Gallery Ballarat & Ballarat Apron Festival (Cancelled due to Covid)
