Lynne Huffer

Lynne Huffer
Stone Mountain, Georgia, USA

STATEMENT

I am a philosopher, writer, teacher, and collage artist interested in formal experimentation. My creative efforts are driven by a desire to think-feel the world differently than before, and to open up new spaces for intimacy, friendship, and political solidarities. I call this mode of thinking-feeling and art-making “thought collage;” in drawing on the aesthetic of fragmentation, I attempt to push the limits of our perception and our thinking. I view collage and décollage as aesthetic and philosophical activities. Especially important is my conception of collage not only as an additive practice, but also as a subtractive one. This is the logic of the mise en abyme: to add is to take away. Décollage enhances collage’s subtractive features, and brings attention to the substrate onto which the collage has been pasted. I revel in the multiple meanings of substrate: paper, canvas, aluminum, cloth, wood, stone, brick, an old book to be altered, a notebook, the side of a building, the earth itself. In geology, substrate refers to the underlying layer of rock beneath the soil. In working with substrates in my collaging practice, I also rework the philosophical ground of my thinking. To rework the substrate is to rework the limits of my knowing. I am especially interested in reworking our conceptions of gender and sexuality, with a special focus on ecological issues and the ongoing devastation of our planet. I have published a book of collages, These Survivals: Autobiography of Extinction (Duke University Press, 2025), that explores the connection between the time of intimacy and geological time. I am especially drawn to using collage to alter books. Three of my altered books have been acquired by Bryn Mawr College for their Special Collections. I regularly offer workshops and collaborative opportunities for installations of fragments at universities, colleges, and community art venues.

BIO

Lynne Huffer is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Philosophy at Emory University. She is the author of six books and numerous articles. Her most recent book, These Survivals: Autobiography of an Extinction (Duke University Press, 2025), is an experimental collage-book composed of fragments of text and original artwork on the theme of mass species extinction. In addition to her academic articles on feminist theory, queer theory, Foucault, ethics, and the Anthropocene, she has published personal essays, creative nonfiction, and experimental writing. Huffer is also a collagist, installation and book artist; her artwork is held by Bryn Mawr College special collections and the Center for the Book in New York. Her collaborative “Installations for Survival” have been hosted by Duke University, Bryn Mawr College, The Bakery Atlanta, Agnes Scott College, and the Carlos Museum at Emory University. She is available to conduct collaborative workshops that bring together collaging and experimental writing in academic and community venues.

ARTIST CONTACT

EMAIL | WEBSITE

IMAGES