OLIVIA BERGER

Born in 1990 and grew up on Mauritius Island until 2008 and based in Berlin since 2010, Olivia is a self-taught artist and painter. She mostly paints with oil but also uses other materials like graphite and ink for detailed and realistic drawings.

The Artist painted and drew throughout her whole life and decided after studying fashion design in Berlin to dedicate her life to Art where she felt more free. After now being professionally active since 2015 as an artist, Olivia did participate at many exhibitions like in London, Italy, Germany, Greece and more and also with local businesses in Berlin for doing big murals artworks.

The philosophy of her art can be described as a trinity of People, Colors and Geometry. She credits her position between both a German and Mauritian identity as nourishing her creativity and curiosity in the world.

However, growing up with the polarity of two cultural backgrounds which can be seen in her artworks; lent itself to a lonely existence, whereby she questioned her belonging to each culture and in doing so, felt a lack of belonging altogether. “I am not white, nor am I black – I am simultaneously the existence of both.”

From this questioning of her identity a quest for depicting figures was born, and in particular portraits, in what has become an attempt to capture the window to the heart and soul in a surrealistic environment. The face portrays one's strength, mystery and infinite changeability and invites the viewer to unravel the story behind the individual.

Olivia's use of bright, contrasting and strong colors is a nod to the palette that is the Mauritian landscape in all of its tropical and exotic nature. These colors are directly related to her childhood; from the luminosity of the ocean to the glow of the birds, flowers and spices. In contrast, her use of dark colors portrays the vulnerability that is usually hidden from the world.

While her Mauritian identity originates from her mother and represents the female, the organic and the figures; her German father identity is symbolic of geometry, all logical, sharp and clear. The female side of Olivia's artworks are reflected through the unfinished, expressive and intuitive-liked brush strokes whereas her masculine side is reflected in the perfectionism and technical approach of her paintings.

Olivia's artworks are the osmosis of plain and sharp edges with the soft and organic movements. It is the union of her contrasting identities bind to mind, borders and emotions.