Susan Olij
(b. 1974, Malang, Indonesia.)Susan Olij works in combined processes.Using abstract layering and dynamic use of dry and wet materials, she is exploring absurdity in the mundane. Through a combination of plein air painting, life observations and slap work, the artworks aim to push against toxic normativity, questioning the rules of art while still respecting the materials innate strength.
Private Collectors - Unnamed.
Publication. CERCCA 2009 - 2014 Centre De Recerca I Creacio Casamarles, AIR program Catalogue, 2014
Vol 1. The Voice of Luxury Magazine, 2024
“I make paintings that infuse and celebrate the joyful absurdity of the mundane. From the present to the imagined and sometimes figuratively. My process is bending all the rules yet still respecting the materials innate strength. I aim to present a restful depth where lingering observations may encourage an explorative perspective. My work uses contemplative humour to question toxic norms without violence.”
Susan is interested in exploring the possibilities of mixed-media in what she calls hybridise techniques. Her work is rooted in classical paintings by such artist as John Singer Sergeant, and textile art of the early 20th Century by Sonia Delaunay. Cinematic colours and mood in photographs of movies by directors such as David Lynch and Wong Kar Way brings the occasional. textures.
She’s an illustrator with an education in textile and abstract language where spontaneity is elemental, and because of her mixed heritage and cultural upbringing, Indonesian, dutch, Chinese and English are fluidly blended in her art, in uniquely compelling ways.
Susan moved within the art world unconventionally, and spends ten years teaching fashion, art and urban sketching. She has only recently started to paint and exhibit again. She has sold work in commercial galleries such as Fost Gallery, Instinc Space and Sunjin Gallery prior to her hiatus to teach from 2009 to 2019. She has shown works in Paris, France, Taipei, Taiwan, and Wexford, Ireland. Her works begins to receive attention in 2025 when she started to show in The Affordable Art Fair Singapore.
Selected Works
76 × 55cm
Watercolour on paper
ENQUIRE
Painted live at Broadcast Asia in 2023. This semi abstract floral series presents paradoxes of colours, done in a cinematic palette of The Fifth Element, a 1997 Sci-fi movie. A Red digital Cinema camera is recording in the background, always watching.
ORIGINAL ARTWORK- only one original piece. (dated by the artist)
Painted with professional artist grade watercolors on high quality watercolor paper
Artwork comes unmounted and unframed.
Each artwork is signed and dated by the artist (Susan Olij)
Price does not include shipping
IMPORTANT:
While the quality of the materials should ensure longevity, watercolour artwork is best hung out of direct sunlight.
Colours may vary slightly based on your monitor, though each high resolution scan is as accurate as possible.
Copyright remains with the artist.
76 × 55cm
Watercolour on stretched paper
Painted live at Broadcast Asia in 2023. This semi abstract floral series presents paradoxes of colours, done in a cinematic palette of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film Amelie, 2001. Green and red are intense in the movie and this is represented by how I use those colours in the main abstract motifs.
ORIGINAL ARTWORK- only one original piece.
Painted with professional artist grade watercolors on high quality watercolor paper
Artwork comes unmounted and unframed.
Each artwork is signed and dated by the artist (Susan Olij)
Price does not include shipping
IMPORTANT:
While the quality of the materials should ensure longevity, watercolour artwork is best hung out of direct sunlight.
Colours may vary slightly based on your monitor, though each high resolution scan is as accurate as possible.
Copyright remains with the artist.
76 × 55cm
Watercolour on paper
76 × 55cm
Watercolour on stretched paper
100 × 150cm
Watercolour on stretched paper
ENQUIRE
This painting doesn’t ask to be looked at — it asks to be walked into. Lush and layered, it pulls the eye toward what waits on the other side, where light thins and the forest deepens. A direct expression of Shinrin Yoku, the Japanese practice of forest bathing, rendered as part of an ongoing series of works on paper.
ORIGINAL ARTWORK- only one original piece.
Painted with professional artist grade watercolors on 100% Cotton Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper
Artwork comes unmounted and unframed.
Each artwork is signed and dated by the artist (Susan Olij)
Price does not include shipping
IMPORTANT:
While the quality of the materials should ensure longevity, watercolour artwork is best hung out of direct sunlight.
Colours may vary slightly based on your monitor, though each high resolution scan is as accurate as possible.
Copyright remains with the artist.
76 × 55cm
Watercolour on paper
Painted live at Broadcast Asia in 2023. This semi abstract floral series presents paradoxes of colours, done in a moody cinematic palette of Wong Kar Wai’s movies.
ORIGINAL ARTWORK- only one original piece.
Painted with professional artist grade watercolors on 100% Cotton Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper
Artwork comes unmounted and unframed.
Each artwork is signed and dated by the artist (Susan Olij)
Price does not include shipping
IMPORTANT:
While the quality of the materials should ensure longevity, watercolour artwork is best hung out of direct sunlight.
Colours may vary slightly based on your monitor, though each high resolution scan is as accurate as possible.
Copyright remains with the artist.
100 × 150cm
Watercolour on stretched paper
76 × 55cm
Watercolour on paper
Selected Exhibitions
2026
Solo Show with Fiidaa art, Dentalis, Singapore
Group Shows
2026
Points of Re-articulation: On the Pedagogical life of drawing, LaSalle College of the Arts,Singapore
Art Picnic, Instinc, Singapore Art Week.
2025
Sense of Self, Selegie Art Centre
Affordable Art Fair, Singapore
Art in the Open, Green Acres Gallery, Wexford, Ireland
2024
Lost & Found, Selegie Art Centre, Singapore
Collections
Gianmarco Colasanti Collections , Frankfurt, Germany
Bernard Olij Collections, Malang, Indonesia
Awards/ Shortlists
2026 Shortlisted UOB Painting of the year
2025 Shortlisted UOB Painting of the year
2025 Longlisted Jackson’s Art Prize 2025
2009 Third Prize and Merit Award, Art and Photography Exhibition, Indonesian Heritage Society, Jakarta
2008 LaSalle Scholarship by Merit for MA Fine Art Degree
Press & Publications
Artist Talk Magazine, Issue 28
Artistcloseup Contemporary Art Magazine, #12 Issue
To enquire about available works, commissions, or institutional loans, please contact us directly. All works are offered with full provenance documentation and a certificate of authenticity.