Ken Mar was born in Oakland, CA. He was originally a musician before finding his interest in art at age 22, while enrolled in a beginning drawing class at the university where he was unhappily pursuing an engineering degree. The teacher’s encouragement motivated him to become an artist. He left the university and worked in both commercial sculpting and graphic design during the next five years, then attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he received his BFA degree in 2000 with an emphasis in painting.

The artist lives and works in New York.