Kami Suki (Combing Hair)

Jenny Olsen is inspired by the traditional Japanese hot spring “onsen” which she regularly went to with her grandmother as a child. Honoring her Japanese heritage, Olsen used images from Japanese Edo prints to explore the theme of bathing. During the Edo period (1603-1868) prints depicting women in the act of grooming were heavily coded to show social rank and for educational purposes. Olsen’s interpretation places her friends in “Mirror, Mirror” and “Kami Suki”, giving the theme a contemporary spin. She received her MFA 2D Fine Arts from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2022. She was a recipient of the Saint Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artist award and grant in 2022, Mass MoCA MassArt Alum Fellowship in 2022, and the “Best in Show'' winner of CAA’s National Prize Show in 2015.