PHOTO BY MR. SAILING JIN
Jay Wilson paints under the pen-name O.M. Norling, a moniker borrowed from his great-great grandfather.
Jay was born in 1971. He’s the youngest of three brothers and son to a career army father and mother who put up with it all. Growing up, Jay found himself frequently adjusting to new surroundings. Six formative years of living and attending school in Germany and South Korea exposed Jay to European and Asian cultures. This mixture of influences and experiences is apparent in his works.
Jay releases a new series of 10 to 20 pen-named O.M. Norling paintings about every twelve months. He gets the word out about where and when they’ll be displayed via his loyal mailing list SIGN-UP. As a self-taught, independent artist, his works are enjoyed and coveted by collectors around the country.
He also looks for interesting opportunities and spaces to show his work. Recent venues include The Solarium in Decatur, GA (2018 & 2023), Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, GA (2020) as part of the ‘Once Upon a Story’ exhibit and The Bascom in Highlands, NC (2019).
Commission requests are always welcome.
Jay lives in Decatur, Georgia with his wife Amy and their three boys in a small house under the memory of a big tree.
ARTIST STATEMENT
In 1843, a young man disappeared without a trace from a modest family farm in Sweden. Seven years later, his mother received a letter postmarked from America. It was from her son, O.M. Norling. He explained that a compulsion to experience this faraway land had driven him to leave behind all that he knew.
The young man is my great-great grandfather. To put so much on the line to obey a compulsion… the audacity of this story was unnerving to me as a younger man. But now, with more years behind me, the sheer volume of life force it represents captivates and motivates me as an artist. For over a decade, I’ve signed my paintings, O.M. Norling.
With pencil, brush and oil paint, I construct eccentric compositions made up of animals, objects and furniture that all echo another time. They are beautiful, dark and humorous stories about the human experience.
