Guidelines – Olivia Chamberlain

In Guidelines Olivia Chamberlain balances composition, form and hue, creating vibrant structured abstract paintings. With a focus on shape, she uses her meticulous hand to create sharp detailed lines and hard edges. Viewed up close the works reveal minute delights in the threads of the canvas, carefully navigated by Chamberlain’s brush.

Investigating the surface of a painting, Chamberlain soaks her paint into the weave of canvas highlighting the texture of the works. Cut-out moments of exposed raw canvas calls attention to the materiality of the works. Overlapping paints mix to form delightful, unexpected tones amongst the flat planes. The angles within each piece interlock the forms, constructed to complement each other. In plane and surface these lines extend through the piece, grounding the assembled shapes.

Chamberlain draws inspiration from walks around the inner city. Shapes reflect the paths and structure of the landscape while saturated colours reference urban details such as car lights, fluorescent jackets, spray paint on the footpath. From limitless variations of her cut out shapes, which she manipulates in the studio, she has fashioned in Guidelines paintings with both harmonious compositions and great impact on the wall.

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