Katie Opländer

Katie Opländer (Germany, born 1993) is an artist and designer. She studied Graphic Design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, followed by an MA in Print at the Royal College of Art in London. Her artwork features playful shapes and abstracted structures, influenced by her urban surroundings.

Katie has exhibited in the UK and Germany, including:

Bainbridge Open, London (2023)

Two-Fold, Southwark Park Gallery (2023)

Friends of Fifty Nine, Studio 59, London (2019)

Graphik aus Dortmund, Zentrum für Kreativität und Kunst, Germany (2018)

Festival of Print, The Art Pavilion (2017)

Affordable Art Fair, London (2017)

London Illustration Fair, OXO Tower (2016)

Central Saint Martins Degree Show, London (2016)

I grew up in Germany's Ruhrgebiet, an area marked by remnants of industrial structures scattered throughout the landscape. I believe this sparked my interest into the visual histories of urban spaces. My exploration of local architecture in East London led to my love for the abstract forms found in modernist playground design.

Through my practice, I aim to create my own 'playgrounds.' Working with both digital and analogue drawing techniques, I generate imaginary shapes, structures, and landscapes. While my hand-drawn work tends to have an organic quality, my digital pieces often derive from isometric grids and exist in a detached digital realm.

Within my work, I like to experiment with the visual language of form, space, and colour. I view the act of image construction as a method of play.

A recurring approach in my artistic process involves exploring the relationship between traditional printmaking and digital technologies. The hand printed process is integral in allowing my work to transcend its two-dimensional nature and become part of our physical surroundings.

I hope to evoke a sense of familiarity and connection to our everyday environments, inviting viewers to contemplate their inherent beauty and peculiarities.