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SONJA OLSON
I’m Serious Acrylic on Canvas 60” x 40”
For Sonja Olson, art is the medium through which
she can broadcast her messages. Her canvases are
couched in wit and irony. These bright, clean and undeniably
cheery canvases hold stark messages about the state of
the environment and the futility of consumerism, but the
message is delivered through fun. Drawing on pop art,
Olson paints images that are associated with mechanical
image-making processes. Acrylics are skillfully used to
create screen-print effects and comic-book style graphics
on canvas. With flat, intense colors, sharp lines and playful
inversions, the images are also repeated in series in many
pieces, reinforcing the graphic quality of the work. Olson
uses these series to trace a path of exploration through the
work and in the process depict the repetitiveness of modern
consumer culture.
These works look for the viewer to engage with them.
Whether it is in contemplating the series of images in a
work (a pear that is consumed over four canvases, colorful
Smart cars from various angles), reading the writing on the
canvases or noticing the relation between the image and its
title, Olson’s work is truly striking and individual.
An art teacher for twenty-five years, Sonja Olson lives and
paints in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Websites: www.sonjaolson.com
www.Art-Mine.com/ArtistPage/Sonja_Olson.aspx
JOO HAN
Joo Han’s paintings are rich with the conflicts,
exclamations, and reconciliations that characterize daily
life. Her energetic palette and labyrinthine imagery turn
each painting into a singular, visceral experience. Swirling
symbols are weighted down by geometric shapes; bodies
grow into gardens; nature becomes one all-encompassing
celebration; spirits become visible. Yet its chaos is what
makes Han’s work heartening. What we hold familiar is
thrown into turmoil, but our imagined realities become
vivid.
Influenced by Korean folk painting, Han openly embraces
her heritage, telling metaphorically rich stories about
human perception. She is interested in the spaces between
states of consciousness and she invites us to witness the
sensorial explosions that occur when imagination collides
with the outside world.
The human body is a constant presence in Han’s work.
Whether we recognize limbs in her churning imagery, or
see her painted marks working together like organs, Han
is ultimately asking us to let our senses take over. She
is asking us to feel life’s mysteries even if we cannot
understand them.
Joo Han received a BFA and MFA from Seoul National
University in Korea and an MA in Painting from Purdue
University in Indiana. Since 1997, she has exhibited in
Korea, Japan, and the United States.
Website: www.Art-Mine.com/ArtistPage/Joo_Han.aspx
The Sleep Oil & Acrylic on Canvas 36” x 29”
54 ArtisSpectrum