Fragments of Light

October 24 - December 21, 2024 | Project Space

Osnat Oliva

Press Release

Nicelle Beauchene Gallery is pleased to present Fragments of Light, a project space exhibition by Osnat Oliva, organized by Tamar Arnon and Eli Zagury.

Drawing from a myriad of natural and art historical influences, Osnat Oliva integrates botanical imagery and organic forms into compositions that distill landscapes and still life paintings through tools of abstraction. Each arrangement is rendered through layers of paint, applied using various palette knives, to create a kaleidoscopic geometry that captures both the reflection and refraction of dappled light and the crepuscular rays of the sun. With their sinuous shapes and earnest beauty, Oliva’s compositions reveal illusionistic spaces through a careful interplay of color, light, texture and form.

The garden frescos of Villa di Livia serve as an important touchstone for this body of work. The Roman fresco, dating from the second half of the 1st Century BC, is the world’s oldest continuous garden painting, that once decorated the full perimeter of an underground triclinium. Appropriating the taxonomies of florals and fruits from this ancient masterpiece, Oliva illuminates blossoms, branches, and lemons using a textural depth that has become singular in her work.

Osnat Oliva (b. 1986, Israel) received her BFA from Emuna College Jerusalem and MFA from the Jerusalem Studio School. Her work has been exhibited internationally at Gordon Gallery, Jerusalem (2024); MOKUM Gallery, Amsterdam (2023); Tregony Gallery, London (2023); Dwell Fine Art and Craft, Washington, D.C. (2022); and Hampstead Art Society Gallery, London (2021).