Acrylic on canvas, stretched and ready to hang.

Signed on the front.

This original painting was my entry to the Archibald Prize 2024 at the AGNSW.
Contemplating applying for the Archibald and Sulman exhibitions, I’ve often found myself inventing valid reasons to avoid doing it. Yet, the beauty of annual events is they allow to renew New Year’s resolutions repeatedly.
This year, however, I felt I had to challenge myself and finally submit these applications. ‘If not now, when?’ This phrase has gradually become my guiding principle.
My latest painting ‘One Day I Will’ delves into the realm of choices we all face: to act or do nothing, to exist or to live fully. It questions whether you should remain a passive observer of life’s parade or take action and follow through with it. It echoes Renee Baron’s wisdom from ‘What Type Am I?’: ‘Beware of being so busy observing and figuring out life that you may forget to participate in life itself.’
‘One Day I Will’ is depicted as a conversation between a cat and a cockatoo, symbolizing the internal debate between my introverted and extroverted selves. They’re like two trusted advisors, each with my best interests at heart, yet offering opposing counsel. One is the voice of encouragement, the other of caution. Ultimately, the decision comes down to me, the artist, as the final choice is always our own.
Acrylic paints, edges painted pink, varnished. Signed on the front with a full signature: Olga Kolesnik.