Mark Ollinger - Lines Drawn

The Herringer Kiss Gallery is pleased to announce the debut solo exhibition of Vancouver based sculptor, Mark Ollinger.

Mark Ollinger was born in 1988 and grew up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. After graduation Mark freelanced in graphic design and illustration as well as working at a silkscreen print shop. This led Mark to start Duality Clothing, which he owned and operated for six years before leaving to pursue a career in fine art. In 2015 he embarked on an ongoing body of work of unsanctioned public sculptural installations in Canada and abroad including Melbourne, Los Angeles, Toronto and Montreal. Mark is now a full time artist, based in Vancouver. His work has been profiled on Daily Hive, Decoymagazine.ca, Booooooom.com, Hifructose.com, Bizzarbeyondbelief.com, VancCity Buzz, North Shore News and The Georgia Straight Magazine.

A simple way to describe Mark's work would be Nordic/Celtic knots meeting a contemporary graffiti style. Each individual piece is based on words that are then turned into an unbroken, interwoven line. Each word is carefully chosen and influences the shape in mind. The design is initially hand drawn, then recreated in a design program. Mark then digitally distorts the image to create an optical illusion within the design, which afterwords is cut out using a CNC laser machine, sometimes comprising of over 100 separate pieces. The pieces are then laminated together, then hand shaped with sanding tools. After the piece is shaped, it is carved out with chisels and and hand painted using a special tool that Mark developed. The production of each piece can take many months to complete.