In the Studio is an online-only feature of Kolaj Magazine where we peek inside the studios of collage artists. If you are interested in being featured, visit the In the Studio Call to Artists page.
IN THE STUDIO
Work Under Chaos
“John Hundt brings seamlessness to his work in such a way that no matter the absurdity of the combination, his constructions are completely believable in their respective contexts,” writes Deirdre Madeleine Smith. Hundt lives and works in San Francisco & Santa Rosa, California. He exhibits at Jack Fischer Gallery (San Francisco); 2731 Prospect Contemporary Art (Cleveland, Ohio); Aeterna Gallery (Los Angeles); Hammerfriar Gallery (Healdsburg, California); and regularly in select group shows. Cory W. Peeke reviewed the gallery catalog, Implications-John Hundt, in Kolaj #2 and Steven M. Specht included Hundt in his article on minimalist composition in contemporary collage in Kolaj #14.
Specht wrote, “San Francisco-based collagist John Hundt has similarly created aesthetically interesting and psychologically evocative ‘portraits’, ‘hybrids’ and other compositions using minimalist compositions in the spirit of Ernst, Cornell and Stezaker. As is the case with other minimalist collages, Hundt’s compositions invite the viewer to engage and interpret the significance of the simple but often psychologically-charged visual stimuli.”
We asked Hundt to tell us about his studio.
My working schedule is very strange to some. I can be up for three or four days straight working on things. I work best in the wee hours and my wife can’t come at me with “honey do’s”. We have three terriers that flit in and out at their leisure. I keep my contact with people to a minimum, preferring being alone.
Although I have shelving and storage for organization purposes, I rarely use them. Chaos is my rule. I work best under chaos, because I never know what might come out the other side. I have tried keeping source material stored away, but felt my work suffered due to the “out of sight, out of mind” effect. This way forces me to reconsider a piece pre-gluing.
Although my studio and work space are in disarray so much of the time, I consider the work that comes out of it as a meter as to whether or not it works. I suppose my pieces being on pristine backgrounds is a way of counteracting the messiness it comes from.
See more of Hundt’s collage at www.johnhundt.com.
In the Studio is an online-only feature of Kolaj Magazine. If you are interested in being featured, visit the In the Studio Call to Artists page.
Kolaj Magazine delivers a look at the wonderful world of contemporary collage: the people who make it and the people who love it. Subscribe and get your copy today.
Image (top):
History Repeats Itself
by John Hundt
collage on paper
2016