In her self portraits, Olivia Reavey often contrasts her body in an assertive juxtaposition with industrial artifacts whereas in other works, she appears in scenes or performances birthed from moments of spontaneity. In these, friends or models, mostly male and often in the nude, participate in an awkward dance in which neither photographer nor subject knows the choreography. They sway and stomp across a dance floor of intimacy, intimidation, and adoration – renegotiating the complex and murky histories of photographic representation and pre-established power dynamics. Looped into this is Reavey’s photographic fixation with the phallus. Her images capture the nuances of this highly symbolic object – neutralizing any threat with abstraction, humor and her own presence. The results are images that literally and metaphorically pull at the body and relations of intimacies.

Olivia Reavey (b. 1998) is a photographic artist who is currently pursuing an MFA in Photography at the Yale School of Art after receiving a BFA at RISD in 2020.
Her work is included in The Rose, curated by Justine Kurland, which originated at The Lumber Room, Portland, OR, and was most recently on view at the Center for Photography Woodstock, Kingston, NY. Olivia has shown at The Independent Art Fair, Yancey Richardson and Helena Anrather. Work of hers has been published in The New York Times, Matte Magazine and Vogue.