Olga Merrill’s textured photographic work, Enigma, was on the walls of our Atelier Gallery in June 2022. We wanted to know more about her creative journey and how the work inspired her and in turn inspires us. We asked her a few questions, and this is what she had to say.
Tell us how you first connected to the Griffin Museum.
My first connection with Griffin Museum was in July 2019 at the reception of the Juried Members Show. My husband and I came to congratulate photographers I knew and know now. I became a member after and only one thing I regretted that I did not join earlier. My works have been part of a few exhibitions, I enjoyed a lot of online events as well. My gratitude to the Griffin Museum for everything.
How do you involve photography in your everyday life? Can you tell us about any images or artists that have caught your attention recently?
I was not shooting as intensively last year as I did before. In any case photography and other media are part of my everyday life. I love to make warm tea, set up music and look through wonderful images. I recently got the first edition catalog of Andre Kertesz: The Mirror as Muse. I love studying his Distortion images now.
Please tell us a little about your series Enigma, and how it was conceived.
The concept of this series was born after I became a citizen of the USA. I still have my original citizenship as well. The duality, feeling as I am personally in between two worlds, literally and metaphorically. My “Enigma” is my interpretation of the relationship between our human existence and the Earth.
We all witness the endless flux of life. I invite and provoke the viewer to see deeply into what mysteries are hidden in the intimate corners of the soul. I hope that in the end, one finds answers as to what legacies will be left behind.
Has there been a Griffin Museum exhibition that has particularly engaged or moved you?
This year I enjoyed the exhibition ” E. caballus: The Domesticated Horse“, a wonderful group of photographers, fabulous prints and installations. The horse can be a metaphor for your world and life. A steady rhythmic horse provides riders with an opportunity to move up the scale and to accomplish new things. Take inventory of your world. What horse are you riding?
What is your favorite place to escape to?
Escape from what and why? Perhaps some people are trying to escape from themself thinking that they are escaping somewhere. You cannot escape from yourself.
What is a book, song or visual obsession you have at the moment?
I always love to listen to music by Jean Michel Jarre, especially when I am doing post-processing of my photos. The “Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World” by Haruki Murakami is on my table, I want to read it again.
If you could be in a room with anyone to have a conversation, who would it be and what would you talk about?
If God can be called “anyone” it will be God. The topic of conversation will remain a mystery to the public.
To see more of Olga Merrill‘s work, log onto her website. You can find her on Instagram @merrill.olga
