In Guidelines, Ōtautahi based artist Olivia Chamberlain exhibits painted structures made up of hard edged forms, meticulously stacked, leant and layered in dynamic arrays of colour. Ahead of her exhibition she spoke with City Art Depot exhibitions manager Cameron Ralston in her central city studio. Guidelines opens 5.30pm Tuesday 15 August and runs through to 4 September 2023.
slope, acrylic & flashe on canvas, 270x220mm, 2023
Cameron Ralston: In our previous conversations you talked about this idea of distilling down the forms and works. With each show you were getting closer and closer to this point of minimalism. You mentioned to me earlier that these works feel tighter and more structured, are you still working towards that reduction point here?
Olivia Chamberlain: Yes, definitely. I think a lot of artists work like that, looking for something, and having to make work as a way to try and find it. When you set a problem for yourself and try to solve it, more questions arise and that generates more work.
What’s the problem you’re trying to solve?
When I say problem, it’s more to do with the possibilities of the colours and forms, the way that there are limitless options in terms of composition, combinations. It’s how I compose and layer the works, which colours I use. Because the variations are endless it continues to interest me.
Do you anguish over those decisions?
I wouldn’t say anguish, but some decisions are more difficult than others, for sure. But some feel effortless and intuitive. I know straight away what’s next. Other works I have to leave sitting for a while before I decide what the next move is going to be.
stack, acrylic & flashe on canvas, 270x220mm, 2023
You don’t use any strict colour theories or palette?
Nothing strict. After the first couple of works in a series I get a feel for where the palette might be heading, then I restrict it intentionally, and use similar colours in the following works.
It does keep them visually cohesive. You left parts of the canvas exposed in these works. What was the motivation in doing this?
This isn’t a new element to my practice, but I think it’s more obvious in these works because I am painting on a traditional cotton canvas, rather than the peachy coloured cotton I have used previously. I have left the canvas exposed in these works to draw further attention to the surface of the paintings. The way I apply the paint, soaking and staining the canvas, means that the pigment becomes a part of the canvas material. I also love looking at the canvas itself, there is so much to see in the texture and weave of the cotton.
In these large works you’ve used forms of the same size as the smaller pieces, is this to draw people in close?
I transferred the forms from the small paintings to the larger works without scaling them up in line with the size of the support. I was curious to see how they would operate on a plane with more surface area surrounding them.
surface, acrylic & flashe on canvas, 580x460mm, 2023
Where do the large colour divides come from? They almost read as landscapes, was that a consideration?
The planes of colour are taken from the angles and edges of the forms in the smaller paintings and extended. I was thinking about how to interfere with the surface of the canvas. The decisions from work to work are quite logical and practical. When I began making these works, I was taking quite regular walks around the city, and noticing repeated angles and lines in the urban landscape. So these coloured wedges reference what I was seeing around me too.
Are your walks contained to the city?
Yes, in terms of my practice I am thinking about walking in the city more than in the hills, for example. I have been thinking about the way we are encouraged to take certain routes or paths and how lots of our movement is directed by the provision of footpaths.
The works do feel more urban, moving into the vibrant unnatural, almost neon, colours. Where does that saturation come from?
There are lots of synthetic, fluorescent colours around once you start looking. I think we talked about this a little bit last time you visited, even looking out of my studio window, I can see some bright orange weights on temporary fencing, someone wearing a yellow cycling jacket, some bright pink spray paint on the footpath, red brake lights on a car…
They have a great presence on the wall with those colours, maybe occupying more of the wall as opposed to the perhaps softer works of previous shows.
The colours are bolder, and some of the compositions take up more of the surface of the work than previously. The sharp angles contribute to that too.
angle, acrylic & flashe on canvas, 270x220mm, 2023
Does that repetition and structure come into that feeling of making a ‘tight’ composition? Do you feel the work is complete when you’ve got that feeling?
Yes, I suppose so – it’s a few things coming together. A balance of structure and form and hue that feels intentional.
What are the titles for the works?
Words like slope, angle, plane… words that describe the elements of construction that appear throughout the show.
Do you listen to music in the studio?
Sometimes but I like to work in silence too when I really need to concentrate.
I guess you have to be so detail orientated – that must remove distractions.
Yes, I have to make sure I have everything I need and can focus on the area I am working on at the time.
plane, acrylic & flashe on canvas, 580x460mm, 2023
I see you have a Louise Henderson book here, was her work an influence on yours?
I look through this book quite often, especially at her more architectural, cubist works. There are a couple of paintings in particular where her influence is clear in terms of colour, too. I’ve been referring to this Sophie Taeuber-Arp book a lot lately as well. She made a whole series of paintings that remind me of the paper forms I use to make my compositions when they are scattered over my desk.
Are you using – recycling – the same paper cut outs in your pieces? Are you borrowing or building upon forms from previous shows?
Yes, I still have and refer to lots of the paper shapes from years ago now. They have definitely changed over time though. I make new forms based on previous ones and I adjust them to suit particular compositions. Like if I want two forms to meet at a certain point, I will extend a line or edge to suit. So they have morphed from show to show, and as I have become more obsessed with hard edges and points. I still do a lot of drawing to start with and use the paper forms to make loose collages as well.
It’s interesting how even though these are about as far removed from your botanical paintings as can be, they still feel consistent with you.
I am essentially still investigating the same elements – form, colour, composition, flat planes of paint.
