OLGA MCCLELLAND

ARTIST BIO

Olga McClelland is a London - based abstract artist working primarily with acrylic,texture and mixed media. Her practice is rooted in abstract expressionism and explores energy,symbolism,and the emotional landscape of contemporary life.

Inspired by the rhythms of the city and the quieter, often unseen forces that shape our inner worlds, McClelland’s work breaks reality down into colour,form and texture.Circles, lines,and layered surfaces recur throughout her paintings, symbolising cycles,boundaries, belief systems, and the possibility of transformation.

Working intuitively,she rearranges and disrupts familiar shapes to invite the viewer into a more personal,open interpretation. Her work encourages reflection,curiosity, and a gentle step beyond comfort zones- towards connection, awareness,and change.

She lives and works in London and exhibits regularly in the UK.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Living and working in London has deeply influenced my practice. I am drawn both to the city’s vast, open spaces and to its hidden courtyard and narrow streets- places where energy feels concentrated and almost mystical.My work grows from this tension between the visible and the invisible.

Cityscapes. These works explore the city not as a place, but as a state of mind.Architecture dissolves into memory, reflection, silence, and finally movement - tracing how city holds our stillness as much as our urgency.

I work abstractly because it allows me to move beyond literal representation and focus instead on feeling,rhythm,and meaning.When I paint, I break subjects down into shapes,colours,and textures, rearranging r even destroying them in order to create something more open and personal. I’m not interested in telling the viewer what to see, but in offering a space where they can bring their own interpretation.

Symbols play an important role in my work, particularly circles. They can represent cosmic energy-the Earth, the Moon, the Sun - but also our everyday lives:routines, habits, beliefs, and the invisible boundaries we place around ourselves. Many of my circles are broken or left open, suggesting the possibility of change, movement, and escape from what no longer serves us.

Through texture, restrained colour pallets, and intuitive mark-making I aim to create work that feels calm yet questioning - inviting the viewer to pause, reflect, and perhaps step gently outside their familiar circle.

PRACTICE & MATERIALS

I work primarily with acrylic paint, texture mediums, and mixed media on canvas and paper. Texture is central to my practice- it brings the work from the visual into THR physical, inviting a more sensory connection. My colour pallets often lean towards whites, neutrals, earthy tones,creating sense of space, calm, and clarity.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

SOLO EXHIBITION,Empress Pop-Up Gallery,London.January 2026

BORDERLESS VVA Collective Exhibition,London- December 2025

KCAW OPEN STUDIOS AND EXHIBITION, London-June 2025

EMERGING VVA 2nd edition XYZ Gallery,London- April 2025

TH ART OF CONNECTION The Holly Art Gallery,London- January/February 2025

TRANSCENDENCE EXHIBITION, BOOMER Gallery,London- December 2024

ART MATTERS VVA Exhibition,London -January 2024

EMERGING ART VVA EXHIBITION, Broadworks Gallery,London-September/October 2024

INNER WORLD EXHIBITION Boomer Gallery,London- March 2024

KCAW OPEN STUDIOS AND EXHIBITION, London- June 2023

LONDON PARALLAX ART FAIR-participant from 2017

SSA WORLD RECORD ART CHALLENGE TOUR EXHIBITION 2014

RHACC ART COLLEGE STUDENTS EXHIBITION, London-January 2013

SAA AND VAA MEMBERS CHALLENGES AND COMPETITIONS participate from 2013

EDUCATION

Richmond and Hillcroft Adult Community Collage Art School (RHACC)

International School of Modern Creativity

Artefacto Abstrsct Watercolour Mastery course

Online School of Art and Design- Out of Limits

MEMBERSHIPS

Society for All Artiss (SAA)

Visual Artists Association (VAA)

Olga McClelland

Empress Studios, 11,Empress Place ,London, SW6 1TT

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