Olé is an abstract painting by American Artist June Edmonds. It is a vibrant controlled explosion of thick strokes of oil paint laid down on canvas. Edmonds has said that her work is inspired by African quilts and textiles. She claims that her work is the way she connects herself to her African roots from her studio in Los Angeles.

June Edmonds was born in 1959 in Los Angeles where she still lives and works today. She has an impressive schooling resume. She received her undergraduate degree in Art from San Diego State University and then earned a Painting MFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. In addition to both her degrees she attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. She has described her early works as “figurative interior paintings”. Looking at her earlier work they still carry the same vibrancy and circular shapes as her more recent work. June has also made a series of flags mimicking the United States of America flag in much more muter deeper colors than the strong patriotic red, white and blue. Instead replacing them with a sense of strength and unity. The colors she uses in this series make me feel some sort of connection to community.

As I did more research and looked further into June Edmonds’ career I see pieces of my own process in her. There are a multitude of truths a viewer can see when looking at Edmonds’ work. Through her unique way painting style you can see the artist finding herself in the colors and in the lines of her work. She is exploring her identity transitioning from awkward lines to bold strokes. The work the world is more familiar with today. Edmonds has been quoted multiple times as saying that the path she has taken with her work has been one of growing, learning and exploring. To me, both a reader and a viewer, I feel as if this body of work has been an accidental one of sorts. Which is something I can feel on a deep personal level. Sometimes as an artist you tend to set out to make one piece but end up making the one that you need to make and it changes the whole course of your artistic direction for the rest of your life. And Olé is a piece that is a love letter to the work that June Edmonds has grown to make.

When looking at Olé, there are many visual layers to unpack. The first thing I noticed was the vibrancy and the range of colors. There is an upbeat and joyful feeling to the colors. Every color has warmth, body and life. The composition of the piece is reminiscent of a kaleidoscope. Even though this is a stagnic painting you can almost imagine the colors moving in circular paths because of the seamless strokes. Another significant visual detail to note is that even seen on a computer screen the viewer can almost feel the texture and thickness. The colors are thick strokes of oil paint that hold the texture and stroke of the brush. June’s use of colors revolves around redefining traditional western color theory and dismantling their color associations that western society has with the color wheel.
Colors hold a multitude of meanings that change from culture to culture or person to person. Personally, I believe that strong shades of red can be associated with anger or sex. We see so many red lipsticks named after sexual innuendos. Grey toned blues are associated with sadness but bright blues can be associated with the sky or bodies of water. Individuals associate  certain colors with memories—both good and bad. There are also colors rooted in traditions. Brides in western society traditionally wear white gowns and all other guests should not wear white. In more recent history, in the record breaking HBO show House of the Dragon there is a divide between the main characters by the colors of their family the greens versus the blacks. I think it is so interesting to explore all of this social constructions around color and how difficult it can be to dismantle these ideas.

In addition to these ideas of color there are also these ideas of circles in Edmunds work. They are continuous forms with no hard edges that are often associated with unity, peace, moving objects and such. Circles represent unity. A continuous loop that does not seem to have a clear start or end. Edmonds emphasizes harmony and peace. Wether it be conscious or unconscious there is a sense of harmony created by the groupings of colors and the few shapes used.  The composition of this painting holds combines  both larger circles and then smaller circles. They remind me of wheels and then the lines of color with rounded ends are like spokes of a wheel. The larger circles have are composed of colors within the same family. layered strokes form the circles, creating a sense of 3-dimensionality the circles giving dimension to the shapes painted over the rectangular strokes.

As I began to design the replica of the painting I found myself at first intimidated. Working in yarn and fabric is something that I truly love. It is something that I have a personal connection with. I taught myself how to knit and weave. I make things that the people I love wear and to bring that into an academic setting scares me. My other work at school, which I do love, are assignments. More often than not I do not feel as personally connected with them. I admire them technically and do come up with the concept myself, but fiber arts means something else to me. It is something more tangible has a heavy spiritual weight  knowing the history behind June Edmonds’ work of painting the textiles of her heritage I did not want to do any disservice to the long history of hands that make work like this. Fiber arts are pieces of history that have been shared and passed down from families and communities.

Creating a textile is not an easy feat. I decided that it did not need to exceed the size of the actual piece which is only 12 inches by 12 inches. But the piece did need to have a lot of physical dimension and I wanted different textures so I decided I would also knit and tuft  the shapes and pieces of this project. I also decided to do each strip individually and I also decided to  use the yarn that I already had that would be the closest to the actual colors. But I also used yarns of different weights so that would add to the dimension. Ultimately I think I have created something that encapsulates the spiritual and personal message of June’s original piece. I created a textile from a work inspired by a textile which does sound very meta. Instead of it being meta I think it is a nod to the cycle of the art world. It is a nod to the many artists that came before me or even June Edmonds.

Work Cited

Knight , C. (2021, November 2). Review: A welcome June Edmonds survey illuminates the artist's surprising trajectory. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-11-02/june-edmonds-laband-loyola-marymount

Olé. eMuseum. (n.d.). Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://chapman.emuseum.com/objects/1738/ole?ctx=e358c86405d93229cb111839026e86a9129ab031&idx=9

Portfolio. June Edmonds. (n.d.). Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://juneedmonds.com/section/365752.html

Sapp, J. (2021, March 30). June edmonds: Stories in color. Escalette Permanent Collection of Art at Chapman University. Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://blogs.chapman.edu/collections/2021/03/30/june-edmonds-stories-in-color/