Artist Paints Abstract Beauties After Near Death Experience

Queensland abstract artist Olga Carolan turned a potentially haunting life experience into extraordinary beauty, painting bright, colourful, creative works that enrich, delight and challenge.

Despite a lifetime of appreciating abstract art, Carolan did not start painting in abstract until after a haunting near death experience.

After her second child was born, she had a severe reaction to drugs in the hospital after a lifesaving operation.

Carolan said the operation created a strong psychosis.

“I literally became disabled overnight and was watching myself from the other side for a couple of months.

“I have seen so much from the other side that, still today, I sometimes cannot put it into words and am only able to express this experience through my paintings.

As soon as she left the hospital, Carolan started painting abstracts inspired by her subconscious.

“My painting became raw therapy for my soul and my earth living,” said Carolan.

“Many times I was compelled to paint for weeks – every free minute.

“It helped me to stop taking the heavy drugs.

“The painting, in collaboration with the daily birdsongs and gardening, has assisted me to live a normal life without any orthodox drugs,” she said.

Carolan, who was born in Switzerland, lives an alternative lifestyle in the small hinterland village of Mt Archer in Queensland with her husband and two daughters.

Part of the downshifters movement, they made the move five years ago from Perth.

“We travelled the world living in cities with well paid jobs and businesses, but after we had kids we decided we wanted the best of both worlds.

“I come from a village of a 100 people deep in the Swiss mountains and I always had to urge to go back to live a basic life with my own water source and a woodstove to make my own preserves from our own large gardens.

“My husband does the hard yards of digging and building and I do the planning, seeding and harvesting.

“The pay off for us could not be better.

“To see our children walk down to the garden and pick fresh carrots for school snacks and collect eggs to make an omelette for lunch is priceless,” she said.

For Carolan, the practice of painting gives her a place where she can be in her ‘Zen moment’ without any boundaries or obstructions.

“Every abstract painting is an ever-expanding imprint of a particular moment of time from my past, present or future.

“It’s an emotional fingerprint from my soul or spirit which lives in the no time continuum of space. Many of these emotional fingerprint images in my abstract paintings come from a deep space in my sub conscious,” she said.

While all Carolan’s creations speak to each of us differently, her three favourites are Record Keepers, Light And Love Kaleidoscope and Orbs In A Pond.

Record keepers:

Record Keepers is like a rock wall.

Each crevasse has a different colour and many colours flow over each other. Every dimple in the stone wall has its unique curves. It’s a mediative piece. The colour combination is very nurturing.

Light And Love Kaleidoscope:

I truly love the geometry and faces that come from it.

Because of the soft colours, this is something I would hang up in my children’s room.

Orbs In A Pond:

Orbs In A Pond is my favourite element of contemplation – water.

My inspiration of water in all forms is never stopping. What would earth be without water? Orbs to me are lenses or windows that give me a flicker of the many other worlds that I can sense. Water is the perfect medium to see through or within.

Love these abstract paintings? Discover more of Olga Carolan’s beautiful works now.