In TOPIA, Tina Oelker develops an abstract landscape composed of 25 square modules that gradually converge into a unified composition over the course of the painting process. The artist brings together colour, form and an open compositional structure with the Veracity Report, a hybrid work of lyrical prose and audio that accompanies the development of the painting on a linguistic and acoustic level.
From the outset, the work is conceived as a 5 × 5 matrix. Its point of departure is the idea of a circle contained within a large square, unfolding across the 25 modules to form a continuous abstract landscape. The individual squares draw on the colour concept of 25 Colours Stockholm, Tina Oelker’s ongoing artistic programme, which she has been developing since 2015.
Fragmentation is a deliberate principle of TOPIA, informing both its practical execution and its conceptual approach. In the studio, Oelker can work on a maximum of six adjoining modules at any one time. She develops the composition from these limited sections, with each new module connecting to the parts already painted and extending the emerging image. The overall composition thus takes shape incrementally, without its final appearance being fully predetermined.
The work is governed by a clearly defined set of parameters: 25 squares differentiated by colour; a 5 × 5 matrix; the conception of an abstract landscape as a circular map contained within a larger square; and an open-ended compositional outcome. Within these established parameters, Oelker intuitively develops an abstract landscape in which order and change, fragment and wholeness converge, opening up psychological and archetypal dimensions.
Alongside the painting, Oelker creates the Veracity Report, an independent audio work. She writes and records the texts in German; written versions are also available in both German and English. Presented in written and audio form, the report accompanies the painting process. Its two-week rhythm corresponds to the pace of the artist’s work, establishing an additional linguistic dimension that develops alongside the painting while retaining its own distinct form.
The first modules are primed in late 2024, and painting begins in January 2025. The Veracity Report had already commenced in late July 2024. In early 2026, with the completion of the twenty-fifth module, the individual elements come together to form the complete painting.