Noah Olson

“Sunset by the Fence” 9×12 Inches Oil on Alum

Noah Olsen’s paintings are a contemporary marriage of classical painting and surrealism. Olsen’s paintings are akin to visual myths, tapping into the long history of distilling the human experience into symbolic legends. These pictorial stories bring the viewer directly into the climactic moment of an untold myth, one which he or she is left to decipher the context and narrative through the lens of his or her individual experiences. He meticulously renders in oils, creating representational artwork that features symbolism related to birth, life, transformation, self-reflection, decay and death. His work often portrays morbid or somber imagery but with a delicate, dreamlike beauty.

“I meticulously render my paintings in oil, overlaying many thin layers of paint. I create representational paintings that feature symbolism related to birth, life, transformation, self-reflection, decay and death. My work often portrays somber imagery but with a delicate, dreamlike beauty. My paint application contradicts my emotional process. I progress through creating a painting in a meandering and emotional way. Intuition guides me as I paint to explore moments in my life, mulling them over in a visceral, therapeutic way. My hope is that when someone views my painting, he or she can experience that same comfort I receive through the meditative painting process. I want to create art that people want to keep revisiting to investigate its mysteries, like a beloved fairytale.”
-Noah Olsen