Kim Guare: Meet Resident Artist Naomi O'Donnell

I am currently the Artist Residency Manager and Farm Manager at the Wormfarm Institute. Naomi O'Donnell was one of the artist-in-residence here at the Wormfarm. She started her residency in the very beginning of June and left less than a week ago. I asked her questions about her artwork and her experience while living in Reedsburg, Wisconsin.

1. Where did you go to school and what did you major in?

In 2011 I graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute with a Printmaking B.F.A.

2. Where are you from?

I was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1988. We moved to Bloomington ten years later, where my dad began working for the Indiana University psychology department. The town revolved around the college, bleeding into vibrant music & art scenes. It was the kind of place that believed teenagers ought to have regular access to public radio waves, and I was the type of adolescent to agree.

3. What inspires your work?

What I talk about when I talk about being embarrassed, wanting more, and walking the line

iTunes Summary

(actual) Ke$ha, Nicki Minaj feat. Big Sean, Katy Perry, Mariah Carey, Shakira

(aspirational) Stockholm Sinfonietta, Arion Trio, Fuat Kent with Ensemble New Art, Phillip Glass, Milan Horvat: ORF Symphonic Orchestra

4. What materials do you use in your work?

My training in art has been fairly classical; drawing apples and boxes in perspective occupied a good year of it. I have recently been curating (rather than making) the objects for my work whenever possible. Realistically, expense and lack of a 3D printer require a healthy amount of sewing and modeling. This summer I’ve been using a lot of the following materials: printed fabric, rice paper, rabbit fur, glass eyes, rope, spray paint, wire, paper, hula-hoops, bamboo skewers, shower rings, plastic gems, and ribbons.

5. How did you become interested in the Wormfarm?

During the summer of 2012 I lived and worked at Art Farm Nebraska for two months. Before coming to Wormfarm, I was looking for a new experience that would encourage sustainable living with fellow artists. The opportunity to plant, weed, cultivate, and create on Wormfarm has surpassed my half-imagined expectations. You unearth satisfaction in the fruit of your creative labors alongside the fruit of squash plants. I came to Wormfarm hoping to strengthen my artistic direction and have found the reality to be much more three-dimensional.

6. What is a typical day at the Wormfarm for you?

Timeline

8:30-11:30 Garden

1:00 – 5:00 Studio

5:00 – 8:00 … what happens during this time? Kim?

8:00-11:00 Reading, films, podcasts

7. How has garden work been for you?

Conversational timeline

8:30am

“Good morning”

“Trellis the peas”

“Un-trellis?”

“When will the tomatoes be ready?”

“Put vanilla on your ears. Behind your ears”

“Mexican vanilla”

“What have you done to the zucchini?”

“When will the tomatoes be ready?”

“My dad’s friend wrote a gender neutral Mother Goose”

“Good”

“Take me to the store. Walmart?”

11:30am

8. What is your website?

www.naomiodonnell.com

9. What is next for you?

This August I will be relocating to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to begin an MFA program in studio art. I’ve just ordered a fabulous, photo realistic tapestry of a coral reef. This time, everything will be different. Run run run!