shawn a. huckins
painting, photography, + studies
s t a t e m e n t
American urban culture + typography, in any context, has continually captured my artistic urges. Influenced by Pop genre artists Ed Ruscha + David Hockney, my current works focus on the prosaic subjects found along my travels thru urban + rural environments, typically commercial or industrial architecture + objects. My work, in addition, incorporates direct sunlight and its drastic shadows.
three red gas pumps study two 2007 pencil on trace 12 x 9in.
The process begins with a simple point-and-shoot photograph. The photograph acts as the initiator in the painting process. It transforms a three dimensional object/place into a two dimensional object which can then be transcribed onto canvas. From these photographs, a series of tracings + studies are completed from which I can compose the composition, colors, + over “feel” of the painting.
My practice of painting is a combination of numerous influences from the fields of printmaking + drawing. The paint layers are often thin to show the warm undertones + sketches. Color fields are solid + grounded, with typically no use of gradations. Geometric forms are outlined with pencil or india-ink to emphasize their structural appeal, + certain details are erased while some are highlighted. These aspects create a flat, static composition, almost hinting a graphic or “pop” touch in my paintings. Although I choose not to show any human presence, human afflictions are typical exposed. For example, empty pool,
empty pool, barstow, ca. detail
Although my subject matter is easily overlooked, to glorify and retell an ordinary subject’s story is what I enjoy + take pride in creating. My paintings transform, compose, and re-indentify their purpose + aesthetic importance. There is a simplistic, pure beauty, but intricacy in the exceptional, mundane subject.
-Shawn A. Huckins