Olivia Nesbitt is a multimedia artist and designer born, raised, and based in New York City. She received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in glassworking and is a self-taught fiber artist. At the core of Olivia's work is a reverence for nature and a love for life's simpler, slower details.
At For Play Studio, all wool is sourced from small farms in New York State and the greater Northeast, primarily Dashing Star Farm, where Olivia worked for a year tending to sheep and overseeing the wool-sorting operation. This intimate participation in the responsibilities and rhythm of cultivating wool transformed an initial curiosity into an enduring commitment to working sustainably and conscientiously.
The un-dyed, wool fibers—ranging in natural values from dark, almost black browns to luminous whites—often carry traces of their origins even after thorough cleansing: plant matter, the subtle scent of lanolin, and the occasional insect. In an age of mass production and sterilization, these organic imperfections serve as vital reminders of the living world from which the wool comes.
Like the animals that grow the wool, no two pendant lights or lampshades are ever perfectly alike. The handmade nature of the work, along with the variety of wool types used, creates variation in each piece and evokes a playfulness that is carried over through the making process.