Ollie Combe; “Distortion”

Artist Feature: Ollie Combe / Art / Class of 2023

By Madison Alexander

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"Distortion" by Ollie Combe

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Ollie Combe is a junior at St. Mary’s Academy. They describe their piece “Distortion,” which won a Scholastic silver key this year, as “a fun experiment in other styles” due to its bright colors and unique aspects differentiating it from their previous work. They take inspiration from music, which creates vivid images in their head that they later incorporate into their art, and the people they see in public places. Combe comments that “people are incredibly beautiful and interesting,” noting that they find the way people interact with the environments around them fascinating.

As soon as a clear idea comes to them, as it often does at seemingly random times such as the middle of the night, Combe makes sure to record it on paper immediately. Later, through a process of sketching, planning, and refining, these ideas are transformed into a final piece of art. They often find new elements to add before calling a piece of artwork “finished.” Though art has been a part of their life as long as they can remember, Combe reports that they started committing more time to drawing in middle school. So far, they have filled “about 15 sketchbooks” with their art.