Biography:
Owen Oertling is a sculptor from Sterling, New York. He has a B.A. in studio art from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a M.F.A from Montclair State College focusing in sculpture. He has been teaching forms of sculpture for the past ten years at the college level. His work in the toy design industry for the past 14 years has had a significant influence on his practice by using many of the tools and techniques of modeling, fabricating, molding, and casting. Most recently, digital 3D modeling and 3D printing, which dominate the industry today, have proven a great asset to his fine artwork. Programs like Pixologic's Z-Brush allow him to work out sculptural ideas much like the work he did in clay and wax but with an ability to rapidly prototype ideas. By being able to do things like manipulate the scale of his figures with much more freedom. The advances in 3d printing have also allowed these digital sculptures to live in the physical world at the fidelity and quality of a clay sculpture molded and cast.
As a sculptor, Owen has found himself working not only in education and toy design but in the labor fields as well. Shifting his identity from artist to: carpenter, welder, Broadway prop maker, painter, or general handyman where ever the hat fits. His interests lie in the ideological complexity of conceptual fine art, the tactile nature of the sculptural forms of toys, and the craftsmanship and satisfaction of completing a manual labor job. These feelings imbue themselves on to the work that he creates.
Owen's current work uses groups of small figures as an installation form to create a narrative that is developed from his life’s work as a maker. By utilizing the character of a laborer, union person, or has he has labeled them, 'Guiders,' as a modular protagonist, the pieces are becoming a body of work that will explore a balance between labor, play, and artistic narrative.