Benjamin B. Olshin
Benjamin B. Olshin was born in the United States, but he spent much of his life abroad. He began with a university trip to Sri Lanka for a program in indigenous development, and then a stay in Italy, where he took courses in archaeology and history. He later attended the Rhode Island School of Design programme in Rome, doing a series of watercolour paintings and drawings there. Following graduation from Williams College, he went to Surrey, England, where he taught watercolour painting, calligraphy, and crafts. Later, while living in Portugal, the American Cultural Center in Lisbon put on an exhibit of his watercolor paintings and pen-and-ink sketches. He returned to Portugal some years later on a Fulbright grant, doing research and attending AR.CO (Centro de Arte e Comunicaçâo Visual), taking courses in abstract sculpture and design. During this period, he conducted studies in the history of cartography and exploration, and did a series of drawings and paintings in Lisbon and along the Portuguese coast.
Olshin completed his M.A. and Ph.D. in the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (I.H.P.S.T.), at the University of Toronto, in September of 1993. His dissertation involved the history of cartography, examining early maps and sea charts. During these years, he also completed a series of watercolors in Toronto, did design and drafting work for an architecture firm in São Paulo, Brazil, and worked for an architecture atelier in Tokyo, Japan, designing, drafting, building architectural models, and doing restoration work. He also travelled through other parts of Japan during this period, and then journeyed to Hong Kong and Tahiti, doing numerous sketches, watercolors, and oil paintings.
During this time, Olshin received a grant to travel through western Turkey, where he did a number of sketches, finished drawings, and paintings. Under an NEH grant, he studied history, indigenous art, and craft traditions in Ghana, West Africa. There, he completed an extensive illustrated journal, as well as a watercolor series. Three years later, he won a second NEH grant, and studied Chinese philosophy at the East-West Center and the University of Hawaii. While there, he again put together a journal and a series of watercolor sketches. Other recent travels have included Singapore, Indonesia, Iceland, and a return to Brazil, all trips that led to new series of sketches, drawings and paintings.
In his position as an Associate Professor of Fine Arts and Design at Ming Chuan University in Taipei, Taiwan, Olshin developed and taught a variety of courses in the area of fine arts and design, including drawing, painting, model-making, and the history of design. During this period, he also worked as a designer for two glass art companies, Liuli Gongfang (琉璃工房) and Tittot (琉園).Upon his return to the U.S., he taught courses in model-making, painting and drawing, Renaissance design and engineering, Asian art history, and a number of other areas at various schools in San Francisco and Philadelphia. More recently, Olshin served as a Professor of Philosophy, History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, and Industrial Design at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, as well as an instructor at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art). Olshin's academic background in the history and philosophy of science has inspired his synthesis of his scholarly and artistic interests: his 2017 book, Deciphering Reality: Simulations, Tests, and Designs, examines how both artists and scientists model reality.
