Ted Ollier has been a photographer, graphic designer, bass player, typographer, web pioneer and armchair philosopher. He has also worked a variety of day-jobs, the details of which are not terribly important. At present, he is a printmaker and installation artist working toward his MFA at Massachusetts College of Art.
His first taste of printmaking came at the age of 8 when he produced styrofoam relief prints on self-made paper in an art class at a local museum. Twenty years later, during his second undergraduate degree, he rediscovered the process and began making woodcuts, intaglio etchings and shaped copper relief prints. He has been working as an independent artist since 2004.
His concerns are with shapes and forms covered up by overfamiliarity and convention. He pulls these shapes and presents them in stark contrast. He uses technical means to extract unfamiliar information. He adapts industrial techniques to artistic ends.
Recently, he moved across the continent to reside in Somerville, a close neighborhood of Boston. His frequent companions are Bettina (a molecular biologist) and Raster (a flame-point Siamese).