Olivia is a senior graduating in Studio Art in August 2017. She works predominately with photography and book making, but has recently been introduced to ceramics. She was awarded the 2017 Harold B. Lee Library Student Research Grant for her project examining the connections between the ancient Anasazi pottery and contemporary Pueblo ceramic work.

This exhibition is the product of her research related to art in Utah as being strongly connected to the use of land and natural resources; more specifically, the work of Anasazi Indians in Utah. There are several Anasazi Indian sites still in the state. The Anasazi Indians, also known as Ancestral Puebloans, inhabited the southwest United States, creating functional pieces of pottery and basketry. The raw materials used capture the beauty of the region they inhabited.

She researched how the pottery has evolved and compared the techniques, materials, and decoration style with the pottery of contemporary Pueblo tribes in Utah. Olivia traveled with the students and faculty from the BYU Art Department to New Mexico and southern Utah to learn about the process and methods of indigenous pottery. Her own work illustrates the symbolism and techniques of ancient and contemporary Pueblo pottery.

Olivia has also worked in the Harold B. Lee Library in a variety of student positions since 2015, and plans on getting a Master’s of Library Science degree.