Artist Spotlight: Ava Dold

My name is Ava Dold, I am a mixed media artist and BA studio art student at Florida State University. A Florida native, my work focuses on the environment I am familiar with and my relationship to it, as well as themes of identity and intimacy. Through the use of foraged material, collage, and stitching, I emulate imagery and texture found in the natural world in order to evoke feelings of tenderness in the viewer. My work invites us to look closer at our environments and the interconnected world-ecosystem that we are active participants in, as well as consider our relationship with ourselves and each other. 

6418 - Spread from "Valencia Home", handmade book, watercolor on paper, 18 x 34in, 2025

Valencia Home (2025) is a map of the tree in front of my house in the form of an interactive book. It is four parts, and takes the reader from the roots, through the trunk and branches, and up to the leaves, encouraging mindfulness and learning through written cues. Inspired by children's story books, the written component addresses the reader directly with commands such as "your feet are your roots, wiggle your toes in the earth" and questions like "did you know that humans can see more shades of green than any other color?" This work celebrates the flora and fauna of Northern Florida and the Southeastern U.S. and invites us to pause and reflect on our relationship to the land we live on, and the inherent value it has just because it exists. 

6849 - "Suspended Collage", foraged materials, 24 x 36in approx, 2025

Suspended Collage (2025) is a mixed media collage made almost entirely out of foraged material. Through the fragile and impermanent nature of the material, and the complex threaded structure, it is meant to reference our precariously balanced ecosystems in Florida. One continuous thread connects all parts of the collage to the equally delicate frame, and pulling one part of the thread affects the entire composition. All of the color is derived from plant dye and dried organic material, yielding a muted warm color palette, with the dark wood of the frame and leaves adding emphasis and visual interest to the piece. 

6901 - "November's Lamentation", collage diptych 9 x 18in approx, 2024

November's Lamentation (2024) is a pair of colleges that reference womanhood, and the complexity of changing expectations as we age. The piece on the left represents the present, a young woman defiant and torn, the owl symbolizing intuition and mystery as a tree of change grows out of and through her. Fragmented imagery is meant to evoke transformation and a loss of clarity in one's identity, while the words, "what makes you think I'd want to kiss you?" reveal a sureness of self that is contrary to that. On the right, past, present, and future are all represented, within a tangle of color and imagery meant to show the collection of experience that we gather with us through our lives. Hands symbolize the caregiving aspect of womanhood that is expected of us, and how we hold so much for ourselves and others even amidst our inner turmoil.

Uploaded/Edited by: Victoria De Notaris