Oliver Black-Johnson

---

Bio:

Oliver Black-Johnston is an emerging sculptor 

based between Minnesota and New York City. Working across mediums from woodworking to intimate needle felting, materials and our relationship with them is central to his work. Oliver enjoys using humor to closely examine the built and constructed world around us, transforming everyday

materials into spaces both familiar and invented, palaces for his wool animals. He graduated with a BA in Studio Art from Carleton College in 2026.

Artist Statement:

Intimately hand-felted forms contrast with rigid architecture. Animals, construction waste, weeds, and cast concrete come together into assemblages that feel both distant and familiar. My work explores the tension between a creature's negotiation with its environment and that environment's claim on it; a tug of war that never fully resolves.

These relationships exist all around us, in daily life, from the cracks in the sidewalk to the walls of our homes. I call attention to the strains, conflicts, joys, and wonders in the interactions between living beings and the built environment.

Instagram: @oliverolliveroliver