O-Live
Cheryl Lynn Olson
- Medium
United States
ca. 2019
Art quilt made with thickened dye, silk screen, and silk fabric
Twisted and imperfect in appearance, olive trees grow in the toughest soil and can live over 2,000 years when cared for by gardeners. “Unproductive branches are cut off,” Olson explained, “representing to me that what no longer serves can and should be let go of—whether heartache, thoughts, pain, or sin.”
The olive tree is often used in allegories or as a symbol, as were those in the Garden of Gethsemane. The title, O-Live, “signifies the importance that this tree played as it surrounded the Savior during His darkest hour,” said Olson, “when His blood was compared to the olive press, bleeding from e 2000 very pore.” We, like the olive trees, are “perfectly planned, perfectly whole with our Gardener’s assistance.”