Derek Olinger - "Swimming Home, 2021"
Artwork Title, Year: Swimming Home, 2021
Medium: oil and phosphorescent acrylic on stretched canvas
Dimensions as Exhibited: 48" x 60" x 1.5"
Price: $10,000
Artist Bio: Derek Olinger is a Visual Artist living and working in Southern California. Olinger works primarily in painting and drawing. Though he was classically trained in both mediums, the artist is known for his experimental use of fluorescent paints and pigments and other reactive paints in the process. The artist also shoots photography and has worked professionally shooting fashion runway and hair and make-up.
The artist takes inspiration from his own real life events, with topics like death, disability, caregiving, family dynamics, and the emotions that accompany these situations. The artist is tapping into emotions like fear and frustration, joy or pain. Infused with these emotions, the finished product is transformed into a vibrant colorful work, sometimes creating a juxtaposition of darker subject matter reconstructed in an optimistic manner. This dreamlike progression allows the viewer to create their own narrative and imagine a different reality. While the artist, in the process, works through so many complex emotions.
Olinger draws from cinema - including arthouse film, cult movies, and classic horror. Other inspirations include the Southern California sunlight, mid-century architecture, Neon light and color, swimming pools, palm trees, art history, literature, psychology, spirituality, music and pop-culture. Olinger is passionate about arts, culture, and community and advocating for the disabled.
In 2023, the artist was honored to have his first solo exhibition of 8 large paintings at the prestigious Muhlenberg private college. The artist is excited to currently have a painting in the group show Arthouse 101: The Art Show, on view at The Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, California.
Derek Olinger plans to continue making art using universal imagery to tell personal stories- bringing a human element to the work that is relatable and honest in the best way possible. Sharing these works with the public is the goal, where the work can be reflected on and important topics can be brought to light.
Artist Statement: "Swimming Home" is a painting reflective of my journey to my hometown to care for my dying father. The hour my father passed away, a child was born to my sister-in-law. This is the greatest duality I've felt in a single moment. I knew in that instant that I needed to process this complex moment and the events in and around this time, later in a narrative painting. It is a moment of grandeur I envisioned, where life and death meet up in celebration - playing together. The beach ball rising in the air like a spirit drifting to the heavens. The creature symbolic of the earthly dilemmas, struggling to keep its head above water. The skeleton painted with phosphorescent paint, can glow in the dark, through the night. This glowing reminiscent of my father's glow just prior to his passing; an enlightenment seen by the family. There is other symbolism present in the work, like the full moon representative of mid-life. The pyramid-like summit resembles both the ancient tombs of the pharaohs and the highest peaks above my hometown in California. It's a reconciliation of the past, while looking forward to the future.
Artwork Title, Year: Swimming Home, 2021
Medium: oil and phosphorescent acrylic on stretched canvas
Dimensions as Exhibited: 48" x 60" x 1.5"
Price: $10,000
Artist Bio: Derek Olinger is a Visual Artist living and working in Southern California. Olinger works primarily in painting and drawing. Though he was classically trained in both mediums, the artist is known for his experimental use of fluorescent paints and pigments and other reactive paints in the process. The artist also shoots photography and has worked professionally shooting fashion runway and hair and make-up.
The artist takes inspiration from his own real life events, with topics like death, disability, caregiving, family dynamics, and the emotions that accompany these situations. The artist is tapping into emotions like fear and frustration, joy or pain. Infused with these emotions, the finished product is transformed into a vibrant colorful work, sometimes creating a juxtaposition of darker subject matter reconstructed in an optimistic manner. This dreamlike progression allows the viewer to create their own narrative and imagine a different reality. While the artist, in the process, works through so many complex emotions.
Olinger draws from cinema - including arthouse film, cult movies, and classic horror. Other inspirations include the Southern California sunlight, mid-century architecture, Neon light and color, swimming pools, palm trees, art history, literature, psychology, spirituality, music and pop-culture. Olinger is passionate about arts, culture, and community and advocating for the disabled.
In 2023, the artist was honored to have his first solo exhibition of 8 large paintings at the prestigious Muhlenberg private college. The artist is excited to currently have a painting in the group show Arthouse 101: The Art Show, on view at The Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, California.
Derek Olinger plans to continue making art using universal imagery to tell personal stories- bringing a human element to the work that is relatable and honest in the best way possible. Sharing these works with the public is the goal, where the work can be reflected on and important topics can be brought to light.
Artist Statement: "Swimming Home" is a painting reflective of my journey to my hometown to care for my dying father. The hour my father passed away, a child was born to my sister-in-law. This is the greatest duality I've felt in a single moment. I knew in that instant that I needed to process this complex moment and the events in and around this time, later in a narrative painting. It is a moment of grandeur I envisioned, where life and death meet up in celebration - playing together. The beach ball rising in the air like a spirit drifting to the heavens. The creature symbolic of the earthly dilemmas, struggling to keep its head above water. The skeleton painted with phosphorescent paint, can glow in the dark, through the night. This glowing reminiscent of my father's glow just prior to his passing; an enlightenment seen by the family. There is other symbolism present in the work, like the full moon representative of mid-life. The pyramid-like summit resembles both the ancient tombs of the pharaohs and the highest peaks above my hometown in California. It's a reconciliation of the past, while looking forward to the future.
Artwork Title, Year: Swimming Home, 2021
Medium: oil and phosphorescent acrylic on stretched canvas
Dimensions as Exhibited: 48" x 60" x 1.5"
Price: $10,000
Artist Bio: Derek Olinger is a Visual Artist living and working in Southern California. Olinger works primarily in painting and drawing. Though he was classically trained in both mediums, the artist is known for his experimental use of fluorescent paints and pigments and other reactive paints in the process. The artist also shoots photography and has worked professionally shooting fashion runway and hair and make-up.
The artist takes inspiration from his own real life events, with topics like death, disability, caregiving, family dynamics, and the emotions that accompany these situations. The artist is tapping into emotions like fear and frustration, joy or pain. Infused with these emotions, the finished product is transformed into a vibrant colorful work, sometimes creating a juxtaposition of darker subject matter reconstructed in an optimistic manner. This dreamlike progression allows the viewer to create their own narrative and imagine a different reality. While the artist, in the process, works through so many complex emotions.
Olinger draws from cinema - including arthouse film, cult movies, and classic horror. Other inspirations include the Southern California sunlight, mid-century architecture, Neon light and color, swimming pools, palm trees, art history, literature, psychology, spirituality, music and pop-culture. Olinger is passionate about arts, culture, and community and advocating for the disabled.
In 2023, the artist was honored to have his first solo exhibition of 8 large paintings at the prestigious Muhlenberg private college. The artist is excited to currently have a painting in the group show Arthouse 101: The Art Show, on view at The Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, California.
Derek Olinger plans to continue making art using universal imagery to tell personal stories- bringing a human element to the work that is relatable and honest in the best way possible. Sharing these works with the public is the goal, where the work can be reflected on and important topics can be brought to light.
Artist Statement: "Swimming Home" is a painting reflective of my journey to my hometown to care for my dying father. The hour my father passed away, a child was born to my sister-in-law. This is the greatest duality I've felt in a single moment. I knew in that instant that I needed to process this complex moment and the events in and around this time, later in a narrative painting. It is a moment of grandeur I envisioned, where life and death meet up in celebration - playing together. The beach ball rising in the air like a spirit drifting to the heavens. The creature symbolic of the earthly dilemmas, struggling to keep its head above water. The skeleton painted with phosphorescent paint, can glow in the dark, through the night. This glowing reminiscent of my father's glow just prior to his passing; an enlightenment seen by the family. There is other symbolism present in the work, like the full moon representative of mid-life. The pyramid-like summit resembles both the ancient tombs of the pharaohs and the highest peaks above my hometown in California. It's a reconciliation of the past, while looking forward to the future.