I personally work in printmaking and come across a lot of artists that work in altered books. I even took a few bookmaking classes in college but never really did anything exceptional with it. In reviewing John’s work, I honestly have to say that he quickly became one of my new favorite local artists.I don’t know how I haven’t been acquainted with his work before. His work is crisp, pristinely executed and ultra thought provoking. He literally uses recycled books, which in elementary terms are full of verbal information. But this fact takes a backseat role, as the books at times are used as a canvas displaying layers of visual information. His work shows an entertaining play between the concept of written information and that of visual storytelling.
Conceptually, I found his work to have an interesting weight dynamic as my thoughts were in a constant seesaw of comparison reflecting on content between title and that of visual dialogue. His work questions how various types of information are presented as language-verbal, auditory, visual and (by using recycled found objects) even the relevance history having lingual weight. In my view, he certainly accomplishes the saying of ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’. I hope you enjoy the interview below and I will certainly be following John’s work as it progresses.
For all you art collectors out there John is my Collectors Pick suggestion for this month.
~Stephanie Sypsa - http://www.theartistsinterview.com/
You recently exhibited your work? What was the gallery?
JLH-My 'Altered Library' was on display at Kenosis Gallery for Experimental Art at 14 Park Ave South in Mansfield. It is located on the south side of the Square right next to Park Street Pottery.
How were you able to get into this show?
JHL-Kenosis is a brand-new gallery opened up by my good friends Jason Kaufman & Jenny Lucas. They concerted a downtown storefront into a combined gallery / living space. Jason & I are both heavily involved in the YelloWall Collective - a group of artists, writers, musicians & random creative folk who actively engage the community with cutting-edge art & artistic living. When Jason & Jenny opened the gallery in November, I was honored to be the first artist to display. They are actively searching for other artists specializing in non-traditional media, performance art, highly conceptualized work and anyone who is hovering at the edge of 'art', pushing beyond the established boundaries & has the technical ability to pull it off. Anyone interested can contact Jason @ 567.203.8018 or Jenny @ 440.315.7492
I am really impressed with your work. I mean I wanted to include your whole portfolio on here! What is your current artist statement for your current body of work?
JLH-Since I'm never at a shortage of words, which could take a few pages... The abbreviated version would be:
The main purpose of the Altered Library is to feed our desire for a quick story - an on-the-spot narrative. The pieces serve as a commentary on how our society has shifted from a slow/easy/taking-time-to-read-a-book-under-a-tree culture to one that snatches blurbs/sound bites/blogs/text messages/tweets on the fly.
With impatience, short attention spans & the desire to have what we want right now being undeniable realities of where we are as a culture, I want to create an appealing visual snack to satiate our bent towards immediacy. Perhaps the works are nothing more than another spineless offering to our flaws. Or, perhaps, they are providing the viewer an opportunity to quickly & bluntly experience the equivalent of drive-thru, hot and ready art.
Do you visualize your Art before creating? Do you know what it will look like before you begin? What's your process?
JLH-I would say that 90% of the time I know what 80% of the finished piece will look like. My basic concept behind book altering is to take a used or discarded hardcover book & transform it into something new, alive & different from the original stream of words. Yet, I still seek to retain a ghost of the original book somewhere in the final piece.
For this series, I decided to focus mainly on wall-hung altered books where the book itself serves at both the artwork & the frame. The inspiration can come from the physical aspects of the book's cover design, color, size or title. At other times, I begin the process with a specific concept I want to express. And then there are the times when an idea springs forth from a particular item or illustration I want to incorporate into the piece.
While individual books get uniquely altered based on the story I want to tell, my main techniques include carving niches & nooks in the books, adding 2-D & 3-D material to help the plot develop & finally sealing the pages shut - never to be opened.
Through this experimental process, the final 20% of each piece develops. Serendipity, necessity, chance & 'Eureka!' moments further polish the piece as it is created.
What are the most important influences that have moved you as an artist?
JLH-Always seeing the innate potential & undiscovered beauty in things: pine straw, mistakes, mud puddles, discarded things, overlooked people, dusty old books which smell of time & story & word craft.
You work is so intricate and very unique. Is there anything you consistently draw inspiration from?
JLH-Actually, I'm hard pressed to find something from which I do NOT draw inspiration! It flies at me and bombards me from every side: the sky, conversations, lyrics, thrift stores, literature, friends, emotions, waffles, bumper stickers... the list goes on & on & on...
How is your work a reflection of you?
JLH-Man - I hope this doesn't end up sounding pompous...lol. It is an outflow of my inner life. It is intelligent. It wants to speak - to say something worth saying. It wants to be heard. It wants to move people to think & to change & to affect change around them. I hope my work reflects my burning passion for passionately living a passionate life.
Do you see any emerging local, national, or global art trends that interest you?
JLH-Honestly, other than Juxtapose and Art:21, I have very little knowledge of what's going on in the larger art realm. What I do see & know firsthand is that there are amazing artists all around me who inspire me, drive me to jealousy & push me to push my craft even harder. I am experiencing the trend in my own art community of dissolving the membranes between different genres: music, visual art, poetry, performance. That excites me! The creatives I am connected with are actually beginning to execute the crazy ideas we've been toying around with during special moments when our randomness brainstorming hits critical mass. I feel that our goal of intentional engagement of the community-at-large with the arts [whether they like it or not!] is being birthed right in front of my eyes.
Do you see anything exciting developing within your community that you feel will have and affect on the local art scene?
JLH-Oops! Seems as though I jumped ahead and hit on this one already... I can say that I have seen an increase in public awareness of 'other' art because of the direct actions of some creative folk... I don't know if a huge number of people have converted, but I definitely know that some eyebrows have been raised, some have found out they are not alone & others have decided to throw stones. At any rate, the artists have started to speak & some - indeed - do have ears to hear.
Your work seems very time consuming. How do you balance your personal life as a working artist?
JLH-First & foremost, I have an amazing partner-in-crime who gives me the space I need to do what I was created to do. My wife, Stacie, grants me the freedom & unalienable right to live life creatively. The rest is up to me. I've been pondering this question of 'balance' with both myself & other artists. What I have found is that if something is important to you - no matter what - you blaze a trail to make it happen. While I could go into specifics of calendars, scheduling, sacrifice & the like, I'd rather respond with a greater answer. My personal life is important to me so I make time for that aspect. My artistic life is important so I make time for that aspect. I put worth on each of these areas and try to marry them whenever I can. I'm not sure if I'm writing a book or just altering one I've already had around for awhile. But when it's all said and done I want it to say something worth saying. If that's not a good enough reason to find that balance, I don't know what is.
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