PURPLE ELEPHANT

Olga Chemlina

When Olga Chemlina emigrated from Ukraine to The United States as a teenager, she didn’t speak the language or know the mores of her new country, but she embraced the form of expression that served as a point of pure, raw connection. Olga’s work conveys a strong sense of joy, especially through the use of vibrant and passionate colours, which leaves the viewer with a sense of elation and buoyancy of being immersed in a euphoric moment in time. She is inspired by the works of Marina Abramović, Gerhard Richter and Antoni Gaudí, all of whom turned their work into a visceral, shared experience.
Olga finds stimulation in nature and seeks to capture meaning in creatures and objects that are part of the everyday and that we all too often overlook or take for granted. Her color palette runs the gamut from the duskiest of purples to the most ravishing reds, and her pieces have depth and texture. Her ultimate intent is that everyone who sees her work walks away feeling inspired and empowered.
In a society, where so much of what we consider art is mass-produced and disposable, Olga takes the opposite approach. Each piece is handcrafted in a process that takes weeks, if not months, to perfect. When she is working, time stops, her surroundings fall away. What drives Olga is the desire to tell each story through singular creations that connect on an almost cellular level.