~Quinault/Isleta Pueblo~
Drawing from his Quinault heritage, Marvin Oliver has been exploring traditional Coast Salish design using innovative media of paper, wood, cast bronze, and most recently, glass sculpture. His works carry the traditional art of the Northwest Coast into contemporary imagery. Marvin’s works are widely collected and commissioned both nationally and internationally. In 1988, Marvin received one of the highest national honors: a $15,000 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in sculpture. Recent commissions include a 16-foot sculpture of bronze and glass for the Columbia City Library in Seattle and a 30-foot bronze sculpture, in the form of a dorsal fin of an orca, titled Spirit of Our Youth for the Central District of Seattle. Marvin is also an instructor at the University of Washington in two-dimensional art and wood design.
Marvin Oliver’s limited edition serigraphs are silkscreened by Marvin on 100% cotton Stonehenge paper with a four sided deckle edge. The embossing is accomplished by means of an acid etched magnesium plate or a hand engraved brass plate and then machine pressed under heat and high pressure. The blue shadow, visible in the embossed image, is a foil that is placed over the plate during the initial press.
His work has been exhibited internationally and commissioned pieces are owned by both the Seattle Arts and Washington State Arts Commissions, Neutrogena Corporation in New York, and Daybreak Star Center in Seattle.
Oliver has worked for the Washington State Centennial Celebration, assisting tribal members to carve traditional canoes by teaching carving techniques and the making of traditional carving tools. In addition to the sculpture for the Masterpiece Gallery, Oliver was commissioned by the Burke Museum to produce several hands-on objects – a Salish loom, wooden bowls, spoons, and tools – for inclusion in the western Washington cedar plank house in the exhibit, A Time of Gathering.
