An Interview With Anne-Marie Olczak
Anne-Marie Olczak’s paintings explore colour and composition through abstraction by distilling spaces and structures through the form of the grid. The grid provides a starting parameter where details are expressed through the colour and the intersections of layers of paints and glazes. Working in acrylic demands an immediacy in the process, working deliberately and meditatively as the paint is applied while maintaining the integrity of the details of the canvas. Process and colour are hugely important to how Anne-Marie works. Some of the artists recent works use old family slides to pull colour inspiration and push beyond the comfort of a familiar palette as well as exploring memory through the layers of the grid.
Can you tell us a little bit about you?
My name is Anne-Marie Olczak. I'm an abstract painter and I play with ideas about memory and place distilled through colour and the grid.
What is your artistic process and how has it evolved since you began painting?
I work in layers of acrylic paint on almost raw canvas. Colours and preliminary composition are pulled from old family slides taken at get togethers, on vacations or birthday parties. I lean toward the slides that have a lot of people in them and I let the randomness of the subject of the photo inform the composition. A blue will relate to an uncle's suit, or the orange is my cousin in her raincoat. After sketching rough grid formations on paper, I'll turn to Illustrator to plot the colours composition in the grid, initially pulling the colour directly from a jpg version of the original slide image. These digital sketches are meant as a guide because as the process of painting begins, slowly, building grids upon grid, there is always room for the wonderful serendipity that is painting and for the colour to take the composition another way completely. Learning to slow down and work in these thin layers was a game changer. As I stopped rushing and gesturing and started thinking about the how of painting, the beauty of the canvas remained intact and did not get overwhelmed with the weight of the paint. It requires a bit of patience, even with acrylic paints, but for me the depths of colour on the canvas are worth it.
How did looking back inspire your 'Kodachrome' series and what were some of the challenges you faced whilst exploring the concept of nostalgia?
Nostalgia is associated with the "pain of looking back", but as I began to look at these old images, there was no pain to the memories attached to them. The slides I use are all photographs taken by my father and are all during my childhood and the memories were largely happy: vacations, visiting relatives, birthdays. There is a nostalgia for these smaller times when information came slowly, the world was smaller and bigger at the same time and kids ran seemingly care free. But the world beyond that 1970's bucolic, suburban childhood was very different, and was facing a lot of the same societal challenges that we are facing today. As a child, particularly pre-internet, the world was outside- very outside. My childhood was hide and seek, softball, bicycles and Brownies. I was aware of The News, but The News was something you had to be quiet during while your father watched it on television. The News was something on the periphery. In my research around visual imagery of the seventies and looking at colour, I couldn't help but dive into the history. There are lot of parallels between the 70s and our world now: very divisive politics, economic disparity, social strife, environmental urgency, wars. These are generic terms I know, but when I started to think more about the parallels, there seems to be so many. I haven't deliberately made this a part of the work, but it is there, tones have shifted - a bit darker, dirtier. But like the 70s, I look to brighter tones to lift the work and me as I work. Nostalgia can bog you down a bit. Like many things, it's about finding a balance.
What role does the surface play in your art?
Surface is very important! I love to see the texture of the canvas through paint. I prep the canvas methodically using three thin layers of gesso. When it comes to applying the paint, I work in very thin washes of colour, building slowly so has to not overwhelm the surface with paint and leaving room for earlier layers of colour to be revealed. I love the when the texture of the canvas catches the colour in an unexpected way, creating a little extra depth in one small area.
How has working with grids allowed you to explore your use of colour?
The grid was a parameter I needed to control the medium. A while back I was really struggling with putting the paint down in a way that didn't become too dense and muddy. The surface of the canvas got lost. By using the grid - a nod to some earlier work I did using maps and to digital photography, I broke down fields of colour on the canvas into manageable quadrants. The grid offers a way to plot out colour before starting but also allows for intuition to take a part as the painting progress as well. The grid is really a preliminary sketch from which the final piece evolves. Turns out I like to colour in the lines. Sometimes.
Your earliest memory of art?
My parents had this very goopy rainy night street scene painting hanging in their bedroom. I think, it was one of those "Starving Artists" sale paintings picked up at a mall. I was particularly interested in the thick goops of paint that made up the rain and the buildings in this painting. It was something- very tactile and I always tried to push the paint blobs in with my fingers. I was one of those kids who was always drawing or making some mess with paint and glue; always asking for some sort of art kit at Christmas. A new box of crayons or pencil crayons was and is a wonder. I can smell the fresh Crayolas. Television was a big part of my young art education. Sesame Street started when I was very small and I distinctly remember the colourful animated counting dots revealing themselves against the dark background. Mr. Dressup and Vision On were wonderful programs that brought imagination and science to life with Art! You could watch tv and go away inspired to create something with glue and markers and construction paper. Art was fun.
Who or what is your biggest artistic inspiration?
Encaustic artist Andrea Bird is an ongoing inspiration for me. She's embraces her medium fully and uses colour in unexpected ways, often using a grid as a base, and layering colour and wax with elements of collage. Andrea is my sister-in-law and our chats and talks about art, the process, the struggles, the joy always push me along.
Are there any particular artists that you are currently enjoying?
I'm fascinated with Peter Doig recently, the colour and texture in his work pulls me in. I saw a show by Denyse Thomasos at the Art Gallery of Ontario last year that continues to haunt me. Mary Heilman makes me smile every time. Rothko. Stanley Whitney, Callum Innes, Sean Scully, Agnes Martin all help me understand my own relationship with the grid and colour. Susan Rothenburg, Paterson Ewen, Joyce Weiland have been constants in my art appreciation since my student days.
What is your favourite book or film and why?
I love any thing by Ali Smith. I read and reread her Seasonal Quartet before and during the Covid lockdowns and have returned to them regularly since. She manages to explore social issues, technology, art and history through a compelling mix of character and story. When in doubt I'll pick up Winter, my favourite of the four.
Are you working on any new projects you are particularly excited about?
I will be having a solo show of the Kodachrome inspired works this May at the Elora Centre of the Arts in Elora, Ontario. It's a gorgeous space and I'm looking forward to seeing the work in a large room and seeing how the paintings flow and relate to each other. And I've been painting stripes -- verticals - as little side exercises as I test colours and paint consistency. They have an energy to them that is a little exciting.