Susan M. Olmetti

The New York Optimist
March 2009

Susan M. Olmetti

Artist's Bio
Strength in Weakness
The spunk and spirit that is 35-year-old Susan Marie Olmetti is freed from her fingertips — and the confines of bipolar
disorder — to spill onto canvas and dance in vivid color before viewers’ eyes. The frenetic energy she extends through her
works over the last ten years has attracted widespread international attention to her abstract artistry and transformed into a
healing tool for the intense woman.

International newspaper editors at Canada's Globe and Mail and magazine editors at Today's Chicago Women have been
drawn to Olmetti and her creations. She is also listed in Davenport's Art Reference & Price Guide.

After her birth in Chicago on April 9, 1973, Olmetti struggled through her earliest years in the school system, to ultimately
abandon the academic environment with the equivalent of an eighth grade education.

Rather than detail her life’s trials, Olmetti communicates her story of the winding course of her life in the intense
delineation of the darkest of lines in her art abstraction. She was fascinated by the stories of the homeless, and she took to
the streets of New York.

At age 28, she headed back to school and completed her GED, and she then moved on to New York’s Fashion Institute of
Technology (FIT) along with residency at the Hotel Chelsea. After a quick semester and a half, Olmetti moved her passion
for fashion education to the streets, leaving her studies at FIT when she couldn’t gather what the educators were sowing.
Olmetti describes fashion as “evolutionary and revolutionary, because it starts in the streets.”

Upon finding herself in 1999 in a hub of the art world, Olmetti discovered her talent and drew inspiration from the
flamboyant personalities and eclectic characters inhabiting the niches within and without the Hotel Chelsea.

Olmetti herself is a complex patchwork — in one corner, through her abstract art she demonstrates an aged sophistication
and tremendous skill in creating intricate art abstraction. She conceives caricatures from everyday life — an object, a
person — transforming a negative thought into a positive one. The resulting pieces produce a primitive feel, with vibrant
colors breathing life into intricate honey-combed weaves — all produced without formal training.

In another, her persona reveals a young woman adrift, grasping onto faith as her anchor and the divine derived from God.
Olmetti gives of herself without reservation or seeking in kind.

In yet another, she is able to patently disregard others’ critical judgment and continue moving forward.

Still another finds Olmetti involved in philanthropy. She is driven by her spirit to advocate for children and adults with bipolar disorder. It is her drive that also moved her
in 2005 to create a lasting tribute in memory of her father, Joseph Michael Olmetti, by setting up the

Joseph Michael Olmetti Memorial Fund for lung cancer research at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Her activity has also resulted in being designated an
honorary member of the Stonewall Veterans — a leading organization in support of LGBT rights.

Delving into Olmetti’s past through conversation invariably draws out a handful of names — people who determined that the talent and character of the artist was
noteworthy and invested in her by hosting her works in galleries and restaurants.

The first of these benefactors to be noted was the Thomas Gathman Gallery of Chicago who provided a solo, one-woman show, despite members of the art community
who expressed they felt her work too bohemian and literally locked the doors of the gallery to deter her from her display. Doors opened, the hundreds who descended
on the showing provided positive affirmation and reception of Olmetti’s creations, but she removed the canvases after a single night.

Interwoven in Olmetti’s success is her relationship with Chicago restauranteur Jerry Kleiner, who has chosen her art to adorn the walls in several of his eclectic
restaurants around town. In interviews, Kleiner has spoken about designing the interior décor of his eateries before the menu selections, so incorporating Olmetti’s art is
an indication of the value he places on it.

Chicago’s Cook County Treasurer of Maria Pappas helped springboard Olmetti with a show in her Chicago offices. Pappas was so enamored of Olmetti’s work that she
has become a collector and displays the works in her office.

In her nude art, she bares her body as though laying bare her soul and revealing the provocative side of herself. Selections of her works have been featured in U.K.-
published, “When Fletcher And Haye Met.” In her drawings, her paintings avoid the physical form in keeping with her spiritual desire to keep her art pure.

Despite the challenges bipolar poses, Olmetti has organized and achieved one-woman showing and gallery assignment through her own singular efforts. By any
accomplished artists’ standards, Olmetti’s successes warrant recognition on their own merits. As usual, she’s currently working on a book of nudes series of herself
scheduled for publication in late 2009. She is also working on the Jonah series to exhibit in the summer of 2009 in New York.

Poetry

The faces in my paintings elicit a range of emotions from
viewers: feelings of being trapped, liberated or lost.

Depending on what is happening in a specific work, the
presentation can be considered a metaphor for how one feels
in an environment where things seem to be out of place.

My commentary and concerns about life on expressed on each
canvas; each piece allows me to put structure to understanding
life.

My own existence has been built on a foundation of mistakes,
pain, tears and heart breaks.

When I want to love, I am never forgiven.
The reason for my insanity is because I have been driven.

5 Hours of Sleep

Please put the books in the boxes,
That's what we have to do,
Put the books in the boxes,
That's all you say,
Put the books in the boxes.

That's not repetitive it's thinking ahead.

Internal Dreams

I believe that character is the measure of
the value in society and in the larger world.
The most essential element of life, in life, is
honesty. Be honest because it's right;
character rises higher than wealth.

Diligence. it consumes the heart of
individuals. Take care of the minutes and
the hours will take care of themselves.

Perseverance. Without it, even the most
diligent become weary and fail to reach
their goal. Rather than being satisfied with
becoming stagnant, muster up courage,
start out into the world, make a venture
and become self-reliant.

Do not wait for a chance, but create one.

Politeness. Another rung on the ladder to
success, a friendly word finds a friendly
heart and a satisfied response.

In a Clown’s Mind
15' x 5' – Acrylic on Canvas
Displayed at the Chicago Illuminating
Company
© 2006 Created by Susan M. Olmetti

Acrylic on canvas Art

Passion

Abstract Murals

I like to create in my own enviroment
and in my own way,
and land my own initiative
and find the light that links me to the great light.

Susan Olmetti is an abstract artist in New York
(NYC) who creates paintings, poetry and portraits,
including self-portraits and nudes, with
international art shows in Chicago and New York.

A woman was walking a lonely way.
Where a vision of love remained.
A man of honor, with lips unstained
Came pleading her heart away.

The man knelt down on one hand.
Laid a rose on the woman's knee.
An he said for the sake of life to be.
You are the woman for me.

Talk given at the Neumann Association
Family and Client Support Group

It is said that the Greek hero Achilles was invulnerable. He could neither
be injured nor defeated in battle. But he did have one flaw. When his
mother, Thetis, dipped the infant into the River Styx in order to make him
immortal, she forgot about the heel by which she was holding him. Thus,
Achilles' heel became the one part on his entire body that was weak and
vulnerable and it was through this heel that he was killed.

We all, even the greatest of us, have an Achilles' Heel, our weaknesses.
Do not let anyone kid you: having a weekness makes you more human,
not less. My primary weakness is bipolar disorder. This is an emotional
disorder in which insight and judgment are affected during mood swings.
When one is on an upswing, everthing is great. The world is bright and
beautiful. Nothing bad can happen. When one is on down, everthing is
just the opposite. A dark, somber mood overlays everything around you.
Nothing good can happen, the future is bleak.

Today there medications thet can help control the disease. In addition,
there are other options that the individual can use to give new meaning to
life. In my case, art. This has worked for Lord Byron, Samual Taylor
Colderidge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Vincent Van Gogh — all utilized
their art as a form of therapy.

Susan Olmetti

Statement of Abstract
Artist, Susan Olmetti

I can never imagine, or even
expect, any one person to feel
the exact same emotion that I
feel when I create a painting.
The understanding that I am
leaning towards is for my
viewer to be able to reach into
the aftermath of my internal
dreams and feel in their heart
the positive effect of a
negative thought which
always leads me to the path I
find which brings my soul to
rest. My art work is a love
that came from God and a
faith which is divine, and
in that faith He keeps me sane
— his password and his sign.