The shape of a line – Olivia Chamberlain

Painting with an intentionality and control Ōtautahi Christchurch-based artist Olivia Chamberlain investigates the interweaving of paint and canvas. Her compositions are inspired by the rhythm and paths of the city – the way we are directed, or carve our own desire lines between two points. Navigating these fluorescent constructions, tension and relief is built in the boundaries of colour.

Distinct from previous bodies of work, lines travel to the edges of the canvas colliding at junctions where colour slides past, soaks into another or is interrupted by raw exposed canvas. Though intensifying vibrancy and strength of form, Chamberlain exhibits a consistent sense of balance that resolves each composition. The surface of her work becomes a visual chart of the painting process and the artist’s intuitive engagement with colour.

Read more about this body of work in our City Art Reader interview here.