The most characteristic feature of Olena Horhol’s paintings is certainly
their clear, rough texture. It is extremely difficult for the viewer to
resist the temptation to come into physical contact with them, to get to
know them not only by sight, but also by touch. The viewer wants to run
his finger along the thickening of the paint, to feel on his fingertips
the irregularities, bulges and concavities from which the composition is
woven. The word “woven” does not appear here by accident. The source of
the use of this characteristic, expressive painting method can be found
in the education and artistic practice of Olena Horhol, who graduated
in the field of artistic textiles.
The artist’s paintings certainly belong to the circle of contemporary
landscape painting. However, Olena Horhol makes a very distinctive,
personal interpretation of this ancient theme, often taken up in art.
Her compositions are minimalistic and synthetic. Sometimes in her paintings
we recognize the horizon line, the boundlessness of the empty sky and the
snow-covered earth. There is a lack of unnecessary details, the composition
is clear, clean, calm. It is more common, however, for the artist to depict
only plants – lush bushes, shimmering with many colors, built up from elongated,
convex strips of painting matter. In these synthetic canvases, references
to the surrounding reality are very distant. These paintings become an
open space in which the artist conducts formal experiments bringing her
art closer to the world of abstraction.
Marcin Krajewski, Pragaleria
I make landscapes.
I create things which I can see around me. It’s pretty obvious but not everyone notices it.
Sometimes I merely document a scene. On other occasions, I attempt to “cut out” the most
unnoticeable, unimportant piece and make it self-sufficient, put it into the spotlight.
Often, my works contain a composition, a pattern of light and shade, shape and form, color
and contrast. But sometimes, a surface is enough (ground, snowfield, the reflection in the
water). The challenge is to capture details in a minimalistic composition. To do that, I use
texture – thin, fat, protruding strokes of paint – to emphasize the shape, to capture the color.
I have a diploma of a textile artist. During my studies, I used to work with fabric and filaments.
Now, I try to mix these skills with painting. This way, a texture of a brushwork looks like a set of
threads. I weave a tapestry on canvas.
My goal is to perfect my pieces as much as I can, so people realize that this is not a low-effort
painting, not an etude, but a carefully prepared, enhanced composition.
Like a tapestry.
Born in 1994, in Ukraine. Graduated from the
Lviv National Academy of Art, Faculty of Textile Design,
diploma in the studio of Prof. Viktoria Dubrovyk (2015). In 2013, she studied
at the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź (student exchange program lasting 1 semester),
among others, in the studio of Prof. Włodzimierz Cygan and PhD Izabela Wyrwa.
The artist has had a number of individual and group exhibitions.
She was a part of the team creating the first full-length painted animated
movie "Loving Vincent".
Olena creates in her own technique using oil on canvas. The most
characteristic feature of Olena's work is its very expressive, rough texture.
Her compositions are "woven" from all these irregularities, concavities and dents.
The sources of this method can be found in the tapestries that the artist wove
during her studies.
Currently lives in Wroclaw, Poland.