Artsy Shark is please to present the portfolio of painter Eric Hudgins. Check out his website and blog to learn more about this emerging artist. He also has work for sale on the Currentwork website.
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When I was a sophomore in high school, I discovered I had a knack for drawing interweaving patterns and shapes with simple roller ball pens and mechanical pencils. My complex illustrations and imagination continued to evolve throughout high school as they were fueled by my intense interest in the early nineties alternative music scene. Within a couple of years of school, I found my creative side suffocated within the confines of a dead-end factory job earning just enough cash to keep me coming back day to day for nearly ten years.
In 2008, with the downturn of the U.S. economy, I decided to take the opportunity to flee the diminishing factory, and make an attempt to find success as an artist. I began teaching myself oil, and for the first time, began working on canvas. Within just the past two years, I’ve made enormous leaps and bounds in the evolution of both my technique and subject matter. Hopefully, I will continue to improve in my style and capture the attention of an art world that is harder than ever to thrive within.
My paintings have a sort of surreal overtone to them which reflects the time in which we live. In particular, my work has a tendency to focus on the interaction between modern technology and the natural world around us that has existed much longer than we have. My current work focuses on the overall concept that there may come a day when technology is viewed almost as natural as nature itself. I believe that if we are not very careful, we will lose our way and forget where it is that we have come from, if we haven’t done so already.
I believe that modern surrealism will be the stand-alone, and defining work of our time when future generations look back upon us. Civilization has made enormous strides in science and technology to improve the lives of everyday people within just the past 150 years, and all of this beginning with one simple thought…”what if?” Modern surrealism harnesses this thought, while also exploring the impact (both positive and negative) that these strides have on our society as a whole.
What are your goals?
I would have to say that my primary goal as an artist at this point is simply to make a living from my work. Probably because this is the ordeal that I face on a daily basis. I would absolutely love to one day be a greatly respected artist with an enormous fan base as well.
What are you working on now?
Currently I’m working on a yet unnamed series of work using animals and nature as the main subject matter. I’m blending abstract, mechanical, and natural elements together in order to maybe shed new light on how these elements intertwine in our daily lives. At this point, Just Beyond the Garden and The Liberator are the only pieces to this set that I’ve completed. I have really pushed my technique to the brink of frustration to achieve these two pieces, which I believe to be my strongest works. I believe that these are a natural progression of the style that I’ve been working on over the past two years. I intend to paint 6 – 8 more pieces for this set.
What inspires you?
I’m inspired by creation. I love winding my imagination up, and then letting it run wild on canvas. Sometimes I’m inspired by a humorous concept that pops into my mind (such as in the painting The Liberator), while at other times I’m inspired by current events of the world. At other times, I may simply find my inspiration for a piece in a simple abstract idea or color combination.
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