Ola is a first generation Polish Canadian, living and working in Vancouver, BC. She earned her bachelor of art degree in Halifax, NS in 2017 and has continued exploring the purpose and importance of making paintings since.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Ola’s (usually large) paintings are made using acrylic paint and liquid polymer on unprimed canvas. She plays with abstract shapes, translucence, and texture to create depth in impossible spaces.
Her paintings are often playful and simple upon first glance. The bright colours and plastic, acrylic medium allude to the tantalizing colours and deceiving patterns that often coat modern day mass produced synthetic products which offer new and exciting but short lived experiences. We are consuming such products and imagery with increasing and shorter bursts of euphoria akin to sugar highs. Oftentimes we only feel immediate pleasure when in front of an object and we completely overlook the labour that has gone into it. While Ola’s paintings might resemble the fast paced, accessible imagery of mass production, they exist as critical, handmade, fine art products. Thus she merges two worlds. After the initial shock value of stimulating colour, the subtle interplay of texture and layers requires viewers to slow down and inspect. By challenging our expectation of each painting, Ola is trying to change how quickly we consume attractive objects and aims to supply a sustainable high.