Alex Olson

These paintings are an argument for complexity. They each consist of the same motif: a circle centered in the middle of the canvas. This circle acts as a portrait or a planet—an entity or a location in which things happen—or both. Neither is entirely knowable. Events in the form of peels/layers/sections/screens interrupt/highlight/contradict/hide the circle. These events could be considered lenses or filters through which one views this motif, like looking through a telescope or a microscope. Sometimes they present clarity or insight, and sometimes they lead in other directions. Rarely does the circle appear in full, but its presence is always suggested. In total there are seven small paintings of the same scale, and they orbit around a larger, central sun-like painting.