Charleston-based sculptor Olivia Bonilla is known for her distinctive pop art aesthetic. Her sculptures of giant gummy bears and seemingly never-ending cupcakes incorporate themes of indulgence, nostalgia and whimsy.
Bonilla’s work explores the idea of a “sugar-coated reality,” expressed through sculptures of sweets which incorporate sprinkled pills, syringes and cap gun toys. She lures viewers into her deceptively sweet sculptures by transforming resin into irresistible hard candy and cement into soft and fluffy textures.
The artist celebrates her second solo show Grass is Greener this month at Silver Hill Studios with the Miller Gallery. Bonilla has taken the better part of a year to develop the largest works in this collection which see an expansion of her artistic language.
“The sweet stuff is this vehicle, this driving force that connects with audiences. I feel like as you get closer and dissect it, there’s a little bit more to it, there’s satire,” she said.
She began her sculptural practice during her undergraduate career at Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in Connecticut, where she received a bachelor’s degree in painting. Since moving to Charleston after graduation in 2017, Bonilla has developed a process-based art practice: Her movements in the studio are informed by materiality and constant experimentation.
“It all started with the cupcake series,” she said. “The assembly is this very intuitive quick process. I’ve only got seconds to work with the material before it hardens. I’m manipulating the material, and then also it goes where gravity goes. I love that spontaneity. That’s kind of the unplanned part, which then comes together with my composing of the color world and the narrative.”
Bonilla’s background in painting is evident in the way she uses color theory to masterfully imbue emotion in her chromatic works.
“Over the years, the work has become about nostalgia, about memory, about something that is sculptural, that evokes emotion through color.”
She also takes a painterly approach to create narratives. Bonillla uses resin to cast toy cars, Army men, cap guns and candies, then incorporates those objects to tell complex stories within the layers of her sculptures.
Beyond materiality, Bonilla’s work is driven by personal memories. The works which incorporate pills, for example, are informed by Bonilla’s own experiences with medication.
“All the themes in my work are things that are rooted inside of me somewhere,” she said. “With the Chill Pill series, that stemmed from being diagnosed with ADHD and pretty much being medicated my entire life on those types of drugs.
“It was also the ’90s, early 2000s where I was just being pumped with all these meds. I felt like an experiment. And that’s something I think even as an adult, in my work, is so playful and fun, and I do feel like there’s moments of being able to express a repressed childhood.”
Bonilla understands herself as a pop artist, citing inspiration from James Rosenquist, a proponent of the movement whose paintings explored the role of advertising, utilizing everyday objects like Spaghetti-O’s, Coca-Cola cans and lipstick. She’s also interested in the idea of the “readymade,” coined by Marcel Duchamp when he presented his “Fountain” in 1917, a quintessential example of an ordinary manufactured object designated by the artist as a work of art (and in Duchamp and Bonilla’s cases, interpreted in some way).
With the Cowboy Candy series, Bonilla uses a direct mold of the packaging of the cap gun toy. This adds a level of abstraction, she said, but still results in an object that is intentionally devoid of the human hand.
Like the great pop artists before her, Bonilla’s work simultaneously celebrates and critiques popular culture, especially through the appropriation of nostalgic objects.
“The works are like vessels to connect with the everyday person, with people of all ages,” she said. “But then when they get a closer look, it might make them uncomfortable or it has deeper layers to it.”
And taking a closer look is certainly something you’ll want to do upon seeing Bonilla’s lustrous creations. Taking in the sculptural works, one can’t help but wonder about her creative process. Viewers may find themselves questioning, why do these objects bring to mind subconscious meanings, associations and implications?
Further exploring her position in art history, Bonilla’s newest series on view, Grass is Greener, re-imagines classical sculptures, such as Michelangelo’s “David” and the ancient Egyptian sculpture by Thutmose known as the “Nefertiti Bust.” She starts these works by creating her own silicone molds of sculpted cement, then paints in layers with automotive paint, giving the works a finish reminiscent of vintage cars.
“I’m doing this classical series to kind of get back to my roots of form, but then bringing this contemporary view of color.”
Bonilla said her solo show at Silver Hill Studios is exciting for a couple of reasons, including the square footage which will allow her to make some of her largest works yet, such as a huge cherry sculpture with a tied stem, a piece made in collaboration with her fiancé.
Bonilla said she looks forward to bringing her community together at Silver Hill Studios and celebrating six years with the Miller Gallery.
“I’m really grateful to be able to keep doing my work.”
Grass is Greener is on view at Silver Hill Studios June 8-10 with an opening reception 6-9 p.m. June 8.
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