The Movement of Marks with Louise Olsen

Interview by Lila Daly-Hyatt l Photography by Seung Rok Baek

Glimpsed through a porthole window in the heart of Redfern, framing a vignette of deep burgundy and twisting ambers, is an invitation to enter into the rich and atmospheric world of artist Louise Olsen. Stepping into Bar Julius, nestled within The EVE Hotel, feels less like entering a hotel bar, and more like crossing into one of Olsen's paintings.

As The EVE Hotel’s inaugural “Art House Artist”, Louise Olsen’s series of paintings and sculptural Dinosaur Designs pieces, spanning years of her practice, are studded around the bar and hotel lobby to create an immersive exhibition experience. Here, Olsen’s paintings represent a natural progression — her latest works to join the space, courtesy of Olsen Gallery, intensify the sensuous depth of her vaulted ceiling installation, ‘Still Life’, suspended above Bar Julius. But Olsen’s world is most vivid in her studio, which also calls Redfern home. 

Sharing the site with Dinosaur Designs — the brand Olsen co-founded with partner Stephen Ormandy while art students in 1985 — the space reflects her ongoing exploration of medium, scale and form. In Olsen’s studio, the languorous movement of resin and the flowing colours of paint on linen merge to create a dynamic space of contemplation and experimentation. Milky, marbled sculptural stools, designed and made by Olsen, invite you to settle for a moment of quiet observation. 

A-M Journal speaks with Louise Olsen about her studio practice, the movement of marks and colours, and her collection of works displayed in The EVE Hotel. 

LILA DALY-HYATT: You’re the inaugural “Art House Artist” at The EVE Hotel in Redfern, where your paintings are displayed alongside your ceiling artwork ‘Still Life’. Your own studio is also in Redfern — what's special to you about Redfern and its creative communities? 

LOUISE OLSEN: Redfern is where our Dinosaur Designs studio has been for the last 28 years. It’s like our second home; we have watched Redfern evolve and grow into a place of many diverse characters and creative spirits. The Eve Hotel has created a hub for artists, creatives and community to come together, I feel very delighted to be part of it. 

LDH: What are your favourite moments when you’re in the studio? 

LO: My favourite time in the studio is when it’s silent, just the painting and I.   

LDH: You’ve described these new paintings as “exploring the relationship between nature, landscape and atmosphere, and the vibrations that happen where they touch”. How do you approach capturing these “vibrations” and connections, the things we can’t necessarily see, but feel so deeply? 

LO: The vibrations are in the movement of the marks and the colours, and the way they relate to another in colour and tone. I relate painting a lot to music and I want people to feel with their eyes, the way we feel when we hear a piece of music.                                                                                                                                                  

LDH: Displayed alongside your ceiling installation and sculptural Dinosaur Designs pieces, these paintings join an ongoing exploration of medium, materiality and scale. Can you tell us about your process in developing these works? 

LO: To be an artist is to be an explorer, every material has its own voice and they all demand a different process. But for me the process starts in the making, feeling the medium through clay, paint, charcoal, pastels and in the sketch book.   

LDH: Does your experimentation with resin, colour, and the sculptural forms of vessels, through Dinosaur Designs, influence your painting? Is there a synergy here?

LO: Resin has a life force of its own as paint does. I find the painterliness of resin very inspiring. There’s a lovely sense of colour and form that they both share, but obviously are created in a very different way. There’s so much discovery in the making I can’t help but to be influenced.  

LDH: Your use of colour in these works feels rich and sensual. Was there a mood you were hoping to capture in these paintings, or an atmosphere you hope they encourage in the space? 

LO: I want my paintings to be alive, full of music.  

See Louise Olsen’s collection of works throughout The EVE Hotel and Bar Julius until September, and hear her in conversation at the Design Dialogues on 2 July at Bar Julius.