Olson, Ted
About the artist
Combining roots in abstract expressionism with a deep appreciation of the spectacular landscapes of the American West where he resides, Ted Olson’s work as a painter trends toward emotive landscape. These are Western paintings — skies, buttes, oceans, and seasons are sometimes recognizable, and there is a strong horizon line. Simple aspects like gesture, opacity or transparency, edge, and surface are important.
To get to the final idea, Olson moves oil paint around on birch panels with scrapers, sticks, and hands, laying down layers, then removing and reshaping the paint. Color is applied and removed, applied again, and shaped. The strength and resistance of the birch panels allow an aggressive approach with the scrapers and sticks.
Marks and textures from the application of these tools take on a life of their own and lead the development of the painting more than any focus on subject matter. Multiple panels allow smaller paintings to scale up into larger, more interesting compositions, resulting in deep, luminous, and engaging works.
