Ayline Olukman’s poetic compositions of timeless images are a mix of photography, painting, and screen printing merged onto canvas with repeated glazing in a colorful atmosphere informed by the mesmerizing sensuality of dreams. The photographic element creates the foundation upon which multiple layers of paint and glaze are applied. The technique serves to distort and, at the same time, enrich the original image, thus revealing a new dimension of understanding. The kaleidoscope of images the artist offers us blurs the division between genres – portrait, landscape, still life – in which her subjects are placed in a warm summertime setting like swimming in a pool, or climbing a sand dune, or falling asleep in the middle of a blossoming meadow.
“The works embody nostalgia for the ephemerality of summer – how fragile, how perishable it is. The air glitters and time dilates, full of promise, with equal parts anticipation and languor. The sensation of water enveloping the body, the full blossom of the flowers, the heaviness of the air, slide us into a carnal torpor and lassitude, an exchange and fusion of elements sating and stoking desire at the same time. These paintings are about the perception of time and the sun as a metaphor, whereby ordinary subjects take on new dimensions, symbolizing the myth of eternal youth,” states the artist.
Ayline Olukman was born in Strasbourg, France. Since 2006, she has found her inspiration in travels that have taken her many places around the world; such as, Japan, China, Argentina, Canada, Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, Iceland, Egypt, and many more. She’s lived in various locations throughout her life and recently spent a year living in Brooklyn, NY. This permanent call to elsewhere pushes her to live with fervor, fueling her artistic energy. Ayline Olukman’s work has been exhibited and collected worldwide, including features in various art fairs, from the United States to China. She is also a published artist and author. In 2012, she published her first book of photography, Small Eternity, and in October 2015 she’ll join the writing staff at French magazine NOVO.
