Octavian Grey Stickann
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Curriculum Vitae
Octavian was born and raised in Jefferson City, MO. He received his BA in Studio Art from Truman State University in December 2024, In his time during undergrad, Octavian was an active member of Truman State’s printmaking club “The Bad Acids.” There he practiced demonstrating basic relief, screen-printing skills, and general shop etiquette to other students, learning both teaching and professional practice skills in an academic space. Within his senior BA show, Octavian specifically showed work on queerness and gender expression as a transmasculine individual experiencing transition, using his personal experiences as a lens for the audience to create a sense of empathy and connectivity.
After finishing his undergraduate degree, Octavian was accepted to the Wonsook Kim School of Fine Arts into their Master of Fine Arts program to focus on printmaking. In taking this opportunity, it has not only allowed him to continue working on his artistic practice but also introducing further professional and teaching opportunities. His current work focuses on queer lives and bodies through the ideas of intimacy, voyeurism, and kink; in the work, there is a culture to queer intimacy that he shares through the ideas of intimacy and voyeurism. The subject of the work is often represented by hands to both objectifies and remove the gender of the subject by limiting their view, while focusing on these intense moments of connection.
Much of his research has focused on psychology of gender performance and queer performance history to create a better understanding of his current artistic linage and influences. Printmaking, as a medium has worked for Octavian as a representation of process, touch, and direction connection with making. Much of the historical context and purpose of printmaking has further enhanced this connection to labor and process, to not only connect with the work as an artist, but to further create empathy and human connection with the audience and viewer.