Interview with JOHN HUNDT

q)Walk us through an intimate day in your life

a)Without  boring you with the mundane day to day that everyone deals with, I get up around 7 or 8, take care of household stuff. Walk our four terriers to clear my head. Then I go to work in my studio. I don't really have many people I consider friends by choice. From life experiences,  I prefer to be by myself. I have a custom home studio and am content to work by myself for hours. My wife feels the need to come in occasionally to remind me to eat and drink. It's not unusual for me to work until 4 am.

q) Where did you grow up/where do you live now and how does that contribute to your art?

a) I was born in New Jersey, but my family moved to Palos Verdes Peninsula (Los Angeles County) when I was six. I spent many, many day swimming in the huge tide pools in P.V. catching octopus and fish which I contribute to the underwater imagery that pops up in my work. I also attended 12 years of catholic school which explains the religious themes as well. My wife and I (and our four dogs) split our time between SF and Sonoma County. 

q) What is your earliest memory that propelled you to create?

a)  I have memories in N.J. (I was five and under at that time) going under my parents bed on a regular basis and drawing strange creatures with crayons, cutting them out individually and keeping them in a shoebox. I also remember my kindergarten teacher calling in my parents to talk to them about my 'troubling' drawings. I knew early on that I wanted to be an artist.

q) Tell us a little bit about your creative process.

a)  I find images that are compelling and cut them out with fine scissors and put them aside. Sifting through mountains of source materials, I look for images similar in hue, tonal quality and shapes. I have learned not to paste in haste. Bad collages are not even good for toilet paper. Although sometimes pieces come together in a very short time, most are quite time consuming. Not everything I make is good, but that is my goal.

q) How do you wish for your art to be perceived?

a)  I would like my art to be perceived as great art. That's all.

q) What do your internal dialogues sound like?

a)Not sure. I never listen to what I am talking about.

q) Do you feel that there are limitations to what you want to create?

a) I suppose the only limitations I impose on myself are 'obvious choices'  and 'shocking for the sake of being shocking' . I consider  both of those as boring.

q)Do you feel art is vital to survival and if so, why?

a) To survival? Absolutely not. That's silly.Food, water, oxygen. Those are vital to survival. I do get stir crazy and a little depressed if I don't get to make anything for a few days, but I would have to be a pompous ass to claim I couldn't survive if I couldn't make any art.

q)Describe a world without art.

a)Dull and boring.

q)Tell us a secret, and obsession.

a)Secret: I am the Zodiac   Obsession: Making art.

q)Where can people see more of your work on the internet?

a) Anyone interested in seeing my work can visit my website, www.johnhundt.com or www.jackfischergallery.com. And if you Google John Hundt, the heart

surgeon at John Hopkins University, that's not me.

John Hundt
1375 Sanchez Street
San Francisco | CA | 94131
415 | 559 | 6633

john@johnhundt.com
www.johnhundt.com

Interview with Lukasz Wierzbowski

q) Walk us through an intimate day in your life.

a)Each day is different, I split my time between daily routines and unexpected events. I try to spend as much time as possible with the ones I love and people in general, taking photos and everything related to it happens in-between. Yoga and meditation help me to find the balance of body and mind. I cherish small and big events of everyday life and I’m grateful for the knowledge and experience.

q)Where did you grow up/where do you live now and how does that contribute to your art?

a)I grew in lovely small town on the south of Poland called Lubliniec My parents house has been (and still is) a location of many of my photos and a big source of inspiration. Each room has It's owner vibe It's a very typical retro style interior that you don't find that often these days. I love wood, patterns and colors of it which makes it very special to me on a personal level as it brings back a lot of memories from my childhood. Also the nearby park and woods has been a crucial part of my life. It was place of never ending journeys, explorations and mysteries, it’s definitely one of my favorite environments.

About 8 years ago I moved to Wroclaw, city on the west side of Poland where I started studying psychology. Here is where I met many amazing people and here I started taking photographs. The creative energy of this place and people is truly unique.

q)What is your earliest memory that propelled you to create?

a)Getting my first camera from my father, an old rage finder would be probably on of the first memories related to photography. At that time it seemed very complex but also magic like, quite difficult for a small that I was at that time but I really enjoyed the whole experience of learning.

q)Tell us a little bit about your creative process.

a)It's quite simple and spontaneous as I don't like planning. I just get in touch with a model, pick a place and clothing and we just start the journey. Everything is based on the interaction between the model and the surrounding as I adore using any given space in an active way. I usually give very overall instructions of or show certain moves and capture the model’s execution of it. We move quite fast from one place to another as I don't like spending too much time in the same spot so the experience is quite dynamic.  Whenever I work with a model for the first time I usually instruct them to forget the previous model experience and just go with the flow of natural body movements and forgetting about all the body imperfections.

q)How do you wish for your art to be perceived?

a)I want to show how important the environment is, especially in relation with humans and our behavior. It seems that we are a part of great system and if we treat everything with mindfulness and respect it can be very rewarding. Also I'm very open when it comes to different  kinds of interpretations of my work and that's the reason why I keep my photos untitled.

q)What do your internal dialogues sound like?

a)I try to be in the present moment most of the time so I don't leave much space for internal dialog especially while shooting photos. I just go with the flow and don't overthink it.

q)Do you feel that there are limitations to what you want to create?

a)Not really because I don't make plans and it's all based on so many factors that I don't have control off that I don't want bother myself with it. If an obstacle appears I just deal with and find the solutions or substitute. There is simply no space and time for limitations.   

q)Do you feel art is vital to survival and if so, why?

a)I think arts is important part of humans existence, sort of relief for unconscious desires and platform of emotional expression. It gives space for dialog on a higher level non-verbal understanding, beyond boundaries and prejudice. It's also a proof that we actually exist as a creative organisms and traces of our minds are hidden in the outcome of our imagination.

q)Tell us a secret, and obsession.

a)I'm quite obsessed with catching the rays of afternoon sun whenever I have a chance.

Where can people see more of your work on the internet?

10. The best place to start is probably my page lukaszwierzbowski.com and flickr photostream (https://www.flickr.com/photos/neon_tambourine/). Apart from that I recommend googling me.