Olga Burkard

Artist Statement

I create to reawaken our connection with life—in nature, in organic forms, and in the bonds we share with one another.

My practice lives between pixels and paint, both made by hand with different tools. It carries the duality of my story: Swiss and Mexican roots; the daughter of a tailor and a scientist; design studies in Mexico City and Basel. I’m drawn to conversations between contrasts—geometric and organic, intuition and structure, precision and warmth.

Much of my recent work is hybrid: hand-drawn digital elements shaped by layers of paint. Everything is made by hand—on iPad with Apple Pencil and with brushes in the studio. I believe the most resonant images happen when one hand works across tools. I pursue results no single tool could achieve—the clarity of digital drawing guided by touch, and the tactility of paint tuned by digital rhythm.

I hope the work feels alive and invites us to notice life noticing us back.

Olga Burkard

Bio

Olga Burkard is a Swiss–Mexican artist working between pixels and paint to reawaken our connection with life—in nature, in organic forms, and in the bonds we share with one another. Born and raised in Mexico and now based in Geneva, she creates abstract compositions where digital drawing and paint meet in active dialogue, balancing the geometric and the organic. Much of her recent practice is hybrid: hand-drawn digital elements—on iPad with Apple Pencil—shaped by layers of paint. Guided by the belief that the most resonant images arise when one hand works across tools, she pursues results no single tool could achieve—the clarity of digital drawing guided by touch and the tactility of paint tuned by digital rhythm.

Burkard studied graphic design at Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and completed postgraduate studies at the Schule für Gestaltung Basel. After a long international career in design and art direction, she has worked full-time as an artist since 2024. She is represented by Mabe Gallery (Geneva) and EDNA Contemporary (San Luis Obispo, California), and her work is held in private collections in more than ten countries.

Selected Exhibitions & Features

Gallery Representation

  • Mabe Gallery, Switzerland
  • EDNA Contemporary, California, USA

Upcoming Group Exhibitions | 2025

  • Winter#1, FLOW Art Space, Basel, December 2025
  • Group Exhibition: Galerie Katapult, Basel, December 2025

Group Exhibitions | 2025

  • Summer#1, FLOW Art Space, Basel (during Art Basel)
  • Summer#2: FLOW Art Space, Basel, August 2025
  • Global Horizons IV, Artio Gallery (Online)
  • Viva le Printemps!, Mabe Gallery, Geneva
  • Art Awakening, Galerie Calabro, Zurich

Group Exhibitions | 2024

  • Winter Show, Mabe Gallery, Geneva

Featured

  • Open Call for Artists, Interview, “Meet Olga Burkard: An Artist Who Found Healing Through 200 Days of Art”, 2025
  • AATONAU, Abstract Worlds Born of Thread and Thought, June 2025
  • L’Art à Genève, Viva le Printemps!, Mabe Gallery, 2025
  • Artmosphere Magazine, Issue Nr. 36, pp. 22–23
  • New & Abstract, Interview, “Five Questions to Olga Burkard”

Education

  • 1989–1991: Weiterbildung Grafik (Advanced Training in Graphic Design), Schule für Gestaltung Basel
  • 1984–1988: Bachelor’s in Graphic Design, Ibero-American University, Mexico City

Background

Olga Burkard is a Swiss-Mexican artist who began working full-time as a visual artist in 2023, after a long international career in design and art direction. Until March 2024, she worked as a full-time designer.

Other Details

  • Nationalities: Swiss and Mexican
  • Languages: English (Fluent), Spanish (Fluent), German (Fluent), French (Intermediate)