Ayline Olukman

A photographer, Ayline captures images of America that feel strangely familiar, and that seem to capture a moment suspended in time. She compares her paintings to stills from movies; constructing a scene for the viewer, only setting the tone, and inviting them to create their own personal narrative from her work. Ayline’s time on the road allows her to be completely free from boundaries, embracing the experiences on her journey. As she captures these adventuresduring her wanderings through her camera, she shares it with a reinterpretation on canvas with oil and the colors construct a completely new narrative.The process of creating her work feels like her own movie. Ayline’s method of creating these pieces is similar to the technique of making a tapestry. The printed black and white photograph is affixed onto the canvas to create a second skin. Ayline prints her photographs, void of color,to add her own personality to the art. By painting in thin layers, she is able to add depth to the photograph. New colors emerge as she paints each layer; first a layer of blue, then yellow added on top creates a green. She also uses thick touches of oil paint to add in details to thephotographs. This process is individually unique like Ayline herself, a traveller experiencing the joys and delights of life.Ayline Olukman is widely exhibited in France, New York, Brussels, Basel, London, Gothenburg, Shanghai, Lisbon, and Istanbul. She has published 4 books based on photographs, texts, and paintings: Small Eternity (2012), America (2015), La Mue (2019), and Elysian Fields (2021).Originally from Strasbourg, France, it was in 2015 at Point B in Brooklyn where she had a residency and worked in New York until 2018. That year she was nominated as a Voies-Off finalist at the Rencontres de la photographie d’Arles and also participated in the residency of the International Art Center of Shangjin in China. In 2019, she won the Prize of the Verzasca Foto Festival (Switzerland). She was nominated by Freelens for the MentorPrize in 2021. This year, 2022, she has multiple exhibitions in Paris, Bordeaux, Lisbon and in June will be her soloshow at Galerie l’Atelier in Chelsea, New York.