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Blake Oliva

I love creating art because it allows me to investigate ideas that are difficult to explain through ordinary language alone.

Currently 11th

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You decide who will appear in Artforum Magazine, take home $25,000, and display their work at The Art of Elysium's Salon!

Voting for the Top 15 ends Thursday the 21st of May at 7PM PDT

What is The People's Artist?

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What is your favorite type of art to create?

My favorite type of art to create is sculpture and installation because it allows me to physically build ideas into space. I enjoy working with materials, fabrication processes, and environments that viewers can experience directly. My work often combines philosophy, architecture, labor, and perception, turning abstract concepts into tangible forms. I’m especially interested in projects that blur the line between fine art, research, and immersive experience.

Where do you find inspiration?

I find inspiration through philosophy, architecture, labor, education, and everyday systems people move through without questioning. I’m interested in how environments shape behavior and perception. Inspiration also comes from materials themselvesthe history they carry, how they’re manufactured, and how they can be transformed. I draw from personal experience, institutional structures, and conversations about value, identity, memory, and human survival.

What would you do with $25,000?

With $25,000, I would invest directly into expanding my studio practice through large-scale installations. I would also use part of the funding to document and archive my work professionally, develop immersive projects that combine sculpture and digital systems, and create opportunities for public engagement through exhibitions, workshops, and collaborative spaces that support emerging artists and researchers.

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