Sociology student Holly Aitchison celebrates the opening night of her first solo art exhibition, 'Telos', at OLGA Gallery in Moray Place.
Something that started as a way of “decompressing from life” has turned into so much more for Otago tauira Holly Aitchison.
Holly, who is in the second year of a Bachelor of Arts majoring in sociology, has just celebrated the launch of her first solo art exhibition – Telos – at local gallery OLGA.
“Telos is an Ancient Greek word that means end goal, or completion – the final goal of art,” Holly says.
The name is appropriate considering the complicated journey Holly has been on to get to this point.
“When I was young, I studied design and visual arts at what is now SIT (Southern Institute of Technology) but I was a bit of a mess as a human and I just ended up floating around without much direction.
“I ended up teaching art to adults with intellectual disabilities and really loved it. But after 14 years I was pretty burnt out, so I began talks with a tutor at the Dunedin School of Art to fast-track a fine arts degree based on the work that I'd already done. This was at the beginning of 2020 so yeah, Covid-19 destroyed that plan.”
The resulting lockdowns ended up being a blessing as well though, she says.
“They made me realise that I didn't want to approach art from an intellectual perspective. Making work in my own time without any agenda behind it was the most free that I’ve ever felt and my practice has really grown from that freedom.”
Telos is a collection of large-scale drawings of animals in soft willow charcoal that Holly created as a way to help express her emotions and process past trauma.
“I find that I can relate much better to animals so I'd be experiencing a huge feeling and an animal would pop into my head. I never intended the pictures to be shown but after a while I realised there was a real direction.
“The telos of this work was emotional expression, bringing what was inside out into the light, no matter how big and scary it is.”
Another big achievement for Holly – and one that’s proven to not be at all scary – was enrolling at university for the first time at the age of 44.
“Honestly, I'm telling everyone to consider being a mature student. I love it. After working full time for over 20 years, actually physically going to lectures and being on campus is really enjoyable. It may seem weird, but I like working in the library surrounded by everyone else on their own buzz.
“My big advantages are that I'm not there to make friends or do activities, so the social aspects don't interrupt study. I don't have kids either so it's been a really lovely surprise to spend time with people who are 25 years younger than me. Though I do get frustrated with silent tutorials and could happily not do another group assignment.”
Holly knew from the beginning of the enrolment process that sociology was the right course for her.
“I'd spent many years listening to a podcast called Faculty of Horror, which is two Canadian sociologists talking about horror films. It's amazing and I love it. I’ve also taken a couple of politics papers and really enjoyed them so now, all going well, I’ll major in both sociology and politics.”
“Art is, essentially, my best friend. It's always with me and often informs what I do. I've already managed to write some essays for assignments that incorporate it so it's not a hobby, but at the same time it doesn't satisfy all areas of my curiosity.
This combination of art and studies is the closest Holly’s come to finding the right thing for her, she says.
“Art is, essentially, my best friend. It's always with me and often informs what I do. I've already managed to write some essays for assignments that incorporate it so it's not a hobby, but at the same time it doesn't satisfy all areas of my curiosity.
“I've found a weird crossover between creativity and study and think I’ll always make art concurrently with whatever I do academically.”
While Holly isn’t sure what she’d like to do after studying, she’s keen to continue working in the disability sector.
“I have the desire to make things better for staff and families as it's a gruelling life to lead and I'm very interested in making voting more accessible for people with intellectual disabilities.
"I'd also like to have a show at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery one day, but that's a pretty high bar to reach.”
*Holly’s exhibition 'Telos' will be on at OLGA Gallery in Moray Place until the end of the month.
– Kōrero by Internal Communications Adviser Laura Hewson