Kelly Olshan

Brooklyn, New York

Olshan’s sculptural paintings invite the viewer to navigate an imagined architectural landscape. Abstracted, incongruous staircases direct skywards, but defy the possibilities of a physical climb.

These two paintings present a pair of interconnected spaces in which one can “enter” through one portal and “exit” the other side. In this otherworldly spatial logic, a section of the first landscape reappears, altered: its scale enlarged, its architectures rearranged, its color scheme inverted.

To create interrelated spaces, the artist re-conceptualizes elements of her own work, re-constructing and re-envisioning the source material. The resulting linked spaces create an irrational, self-reflective world. Like an anxious mindscape, they trap you in the purgatory of their own cyclical logic.

In architecture, stairs are the means of physical and symbolic elevation. In a time when the space between where we are and where we want to go feels vast, these works reflect upon the aspirations and anxiety associated with navigating a nonsensical world.