What is your name?
This should be simple, right? But my birth certificate says Colin Oldland even though I’ve always been referred to by my baptismal name, Mark. As artists, we always try to stand out so you’d think with a unique last name like Oldland that wouldn’t be too difficult. Well imagine my surprise when I went to register for a website and discovered there’s an artist on the West Coast named Mark Oldland. That’s why my website is registered under Mark Colin Oldland (www.markcolinoldland.com). However, I will always prefer to be called Mark Oldland.
Where are you from?
I grew up in a small Central Pennsylvania town called Elizabethville about 40 minutes’ drive north of Harrisburg. It’s located not far from the Susquehanna River where my fascination with moving water, something that is very prevalent in much of my artwork, began. I now live in Hillsborough, NJ with my wife and 9 year old son.
Are you a veteran? If so, what branch did you serve and what was your job?
Yes. I served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 2002 to 2006. Initially, I was stationed as a Non-Rate on the US Coast Guard Cutter Rush (now since decommissioned). She was a High Endurance Cutter stationed out of Honolulu, Hawaii assigned to patrol the Bering Sea and South Pacific. After a year of sea service, I trained to become a Marine Science Technician and was stationed out of Philadelphia, PA where I specialized in responding to Environmental Disasters (Oil and Hazardous Material spills) on the waterway. I completed my service time in 2006 as a 2nd Class Petty Officer and now I work for the United States Environmental Protection Agency as part of the Superfund Environmental Response Program.
Who is your favorite baseball team?
Easy…the Pittsburgh Pirates. I am an avid baseball fan and, more importantly, I’m a die-hard Pirates fan, which not an easy thing to be. I can recall attending games at Three Rivers Stadium with my father & grandfather back in the late 1980s. To this day, I still make it a point to attend at least one game a season with my dad at PNC Park and I can rattle off the starting lineup of practically every Pirates team for as far back as I can remember.
Who are your favorite printmakers?
This one is not quite as easy. First, despite my educational background (BFA from Maryland Institute Collage of Art), I would never consider myself much of a scholar when it comes to the specifics of Art History. Secondly, I’m relatively new to the world of printmaking, having primarily focused much of my art career as a draftsman and a painter (further limiting my knowledge in this area). However, after providing it some thought, I guess I would have to say the Japanese Woodblock Printers as a whole. In general, much of my personal focus and use of line has influence from many Japanese artists both past and present.
Has working in the Coast Guard influenced your artistic practice?
Most definitely. My time in the Coast Guard has influenced it in a variety of ways starting with my whole reason and purpose for enlisting in the Coast Guard. From my earliest memory, I have always been drawn towards moving water. As I grew older, I channeled that fascination towards learning as much as I could about whitewater, in particular through the practice of whitewater kayaking. My Senior thesis at MICA highlighted a key aspect of whitewater kayaking called Reading the River (the practice of distilling whitewater down to simple directional lines in order to navigate it). As I continued to learn more and more about moving water, I became determined to explore the High Seas, in particular the Bering Sea. That’s how I transitioned from a receiving my art degree at MICA to enlisting in the Coast Guard. Not something one typically does after attending art school.
The Coast Guard not only developed my understanding of water and how I applied it towards my artwork, but it also forced me to develop socially in ways that I never would have had I not enlisted. As an autistic individual, I always struggled socially even through college where it was difficult for me to maintain social relationships. My Coast Guard social development seeped into my artwork. As I began to explore my range socially, my artwork followed. In college, my artwork focused on simple directional lines. In my Coast Guard artistic development, I learned how to build upon those lines to round out form and ultimately move from pure abstraction into more representational imagery. This coincided with my social development i.e. my simple introverted world built up and expanded and formed a larger, more typical, social structure.
Where did you discover printmaking and how did you get into it?
I had some basic printmaking courses while studying at MICA. Essentially an introduction to the primary processes. However, it’s not been until recently when I discovered Frontline Arts that I truly began delving into it and incorporating it into my artwork. In some ways, I don’t think I was quite prepared to explore printmaking artistically until I reached a point where I fully developed both of my abstract and representational identities. I think when you look at my prints, you’ll find they marry both of my abstract perceptions and representational perceptions into singular pieces. For example when you look at the cover piece for this interview, “Tree on a Hill,” it depicts a very recognizable image of a tree full of body and form through the use of purely abstract line that harkens back to my earliest days of artmaking when I was drawing basic directional lines without concern for form. Before I could do this in print, I first needed to understand and connect with line abstractly then progress towards building representational images by added form to these lines, mostly through the process of plein air oil painting.
As you mentioned, you are on the autism spectrum. How has this influenced your artwork and creative process?
I think it’s more important to understand that being autistic influences all aspects of me as an individual, not just my artwork. I cannot simply separate myself from my autism to paint something or make a print. Whether or not I choose to make it a focal point of what I’m doing, it’s always going to be there and resonate within the imagery. That’s why I choose to fully embrace it and use my artwork to educate the public about how I see, feel and interact with the world. The clearest example of this can be seen in the dichotomy between the two focal images on my webpage www.markcolinoldland.com. The abstract image entitled “Green Wave” and the representational image called “Wave Train” are actually representations of the same exact location on the Delaware River. I often tell people that I first and foremost see and interpret the world through line, that’s why for me, the “abstract” image “Green Wave” is representational and the “representational” image is abstract. By highlighting this perceptive variation, and speaking openly about it, it is my hope to educate the public about the many abilities of autistic individuals, and celebrate them. Most peoples’ perception of autism doesn’t include whitewater kayaking, enlisting the Coast Guard, getting married or having a son, but it’s my aim through my artwork to change that perception.
What is one tool you could not create without?
As a painter, specifically as an oil painter, it’s a palette knife. No other tool allows me to sharply control line and it’s movement like a palette knife. As a printer I would have to say my iPad and Apple pencil. It allows me to quickly translate any image I create, whether it’s a sketch, painting or straight forward digital drawing, into a printable format.
If you’ll allow me to divert a little…last year I was invited to participate in a plein air juried show. At the opening, the juror spoke about the history and future of plein air artistry. He highlighted that plein air developed from the scientific advancement of the ability to put paint in tubes allowing for artists to take their canvas outdoors. I thought that was incredibly perceptive until, in the next breath, he spoke of his fear that plein air artists were a dying breed and the digital age was killing it. I couldn’t disagree more. I see the development and use of digital tools like an iPad and Pencil in the same way that that tube of paint advanced plein air in the past. I think it’s the most exciting time to be a landscape or plein air artist. We’re at a point where the scientific advancement of the iPad allows us to bring plein air back inside into the printshop or scaled up into public art. When one looks at my work you can see plein air concepts throughout it and, while it’s important to be able to paint plein air traditionally with oils, I believe it’s equally important to maximize new technologies and allow plein air to crossover to other media in new and innovative ways.
What is your biggest rule when making art?
In the end, the image must have aesthetic value for me. If I can’t enjoy looking at it, the image isn’t complete.
How has this pandemic changed your life as an artist?
I’m producing a ton of new work and focusing more on the aesthetics close at hand, like what I can see from my window or front doorstep. I wouldn’t say that I have any clear message I’m trying to convey other than there continues to be beauty around us even when so much seems so bleak.
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Interviewed by Mike Stark, June 2020.
Edited by Hugo Gatica.