Bio & Statement: 2007 Shows:
Create Fixtate -- "Reunion" -- Los Angeles, CA December 1st
Ghettogloss / Cannibal Flower -- "In the Mix" -- Los Angeles, CA Dember 1st
Venice Grind -- "Howl at the Moon" -- Los Angeles, CA November 10th
The Hive - November Show 2007 -- Los Angeles, CA November 3rd
Crewest Gallery -- "Top of the Dome IV" -- Los Angeles, CA November 3rd
Phoenix Gallery -- "Palace of Marvels " -- Denver, CO September 7th
Cannibal Flower -- Anniversary Show -- Los Angeles, CA August 25th
Gallery Nucleus -- "Revenge of the Ninja " -- Los Angeles, CA August 11th
Thinkspace -- "Untitled Love Project:Phase IV"-- Los Angeles, CA August 4th
The Hive -- Large Feature Wall -- Los Angeles, CA July 5th
Thinkspace -- Artdorks Collective -- Los Angeles, CA June 8th
Gallery Nucleus -- "Power in Numbers" -- Los Angeles, CA May 14th
Compound Gallery - "Three Course Meal" -- Portland, OR May 3rd
The Hive -- "Birds and Bees" -- Los Angeles, CA April 4th
The Hive - January Show 2007 -- Los Angeles, CA January 5th
Past Shows:
Create Fixate -- Five Year Anniversary" -- Los Angeles, CA December 13
BLVD Gallery -- "The Art Army Guerilla Crew" -- Seattle, WA December 4
Compound Gallery -- "Monster" -- Portland, OR October 12
The Hive -- October Show 2006 -- Los Angeles, CA October 12
Thinkspace -- "Square Foot" -- Los Angeles, CA November 11
Born
1971, Huntington Beach, California.
Kristian Olson grew up in Orange County, California. He was a fairly decent kid who's major shortcomings were a love of illegal fireworks and a strong habit of doodling in class. Although he could never figure out a way to produce his own pyrotechnic devices on the cheap to turn a profit, he was able to turn his doodling addiction into a career as an illustrator and fine artist.
After studying design at the University of California at Los Angeles, and an eight year career as a freelance graphic designer, Olson has returned to his first love. With only three years under his belt as a professional artist his work has been accepted into the Communication Arts Illustration Annual twice (America's largest illustration competition), Canada's Applied Arts Photography and Illustration Annual, and 3x3's illustration annual. He has also been featured as a spotlight artist in MacUser, Computer Arts, and Taxi Design. In 2006 he was chosen as the cover artist for The Graphic Artists' Guild's Directory of Illustration #23.
Alongside Olson's intricate style of illustration he has also developed a mixed media technique for his personal and experimental work, which he is now showing in galleries. Combining elaborately designed digital artwork, giclée printing, and acrylic paint he creates otherworldly entities and structures that beg for exploration.
Education:
University of California at Los Angeles, BA in Design, 1989 - 1994
Fine Art Statement:
Much of my work is autobiographical and deals with my own questioning of reality and religion. It is about loosening my mental grip on life that society, religion, philosophy, etc. have conditioned us all to have. That grip is on one hand useful and on the other hand detrimental. Via language, it allows us to make sense of the world and "progress" as individuals and society, but it also traps our experience inside its contrived mental boxes. I'm trying to let go of those controls and turn off my conditioned mind. By doing so I aim to capture some of the innocent fascination that most of us had as children. For myself, some of this occurs within the process of creating art. For the viewer I want my work to look alien, or foreign, or just beautiful, to remind them of a world they don't understand but are intrigued by. Many of my pieces have underlying stories that deal with god and self, but the stories are usually a sideshow. It is the mystery that is of key importance.
Materials and Techniques: Preliminary Digital Work: Almost every element or shape I use has been created from scratch in Photoshop and Illustrator. I do not use any material that I have not made myself for the structures, shapes, swirls, and patterns. This means I do not use scans, photography, or other digital images taken from another source. My process mostly involves duplicating and altering a series of shapes that I have created for myself. Those shapes are twisted, squished, bent, mirrored, etc. to form new shapes. Then those new shapes are duplicated, twisted, squished, etc. until I get the desired results. All patterns, flourishes, and other decorative elements are made by me in Illustrator. The only aspect of my work that incorporates visual sources I have not fabricated myself are the fonts used to develop the typography and symbols.
Mixed Media Materials:
I use only archival quality paper and pigment based inks to print the giclée portion of my digital work. These prints are then mounted to gessoed canvas or wood using matte medium. After this, I give the entire piece a thin wash of color, usually a warm, ochre-like color. Once the paper and ink are wet from the wash I rub off certain areas of the print to add richness and a bit of texture to the piece. At this point, I may go in with layers of acrylic to build up the background or I may leave the background alone and just add embellishments and a few thick layers of paint. These final layers are left to dry briefly before they are wiped off, leaving a slightly rough looking texture. Finally, on the surface I often add tiny paper squares, printed with small stars or flowers before I brush on two or three finishing coats of varnish.
After a piece is completed the digital file used to print the main imagery is usually thrown away, insuring a one of a kind piece of art. (And yes, I really do throw them away.) If I don't throw away the file and I intend to use it again I will add "1 of 3" or "1 of 10", etc. to the front of the piece near the signature, and I will note it on this web site.
