Former software engineer John Houck is a multidisciplinary artist whose work examines human perception and memory. From subtly folded and rephotographed pieces of paper to paintings of psychological landscapes overlaid with personal objects, John explores how shadows can act as signatures of both the condition and the limits of our experience, playfully navigating the intersection between reality, memory, illusion, and imagination.

In today’s podcast episode, host and NOT REAL ART founder Scott “Sourdough” Power sits down with John Houck to discuss the artist’s thought-provoking practice, which marries visual art with his background in technology. “I love thinking through code as a tool to work creatively and playfully,” he says. “Then I [also] get to be in my studio. It's the best of both worlds for me.” In our conversation, we also investigate John’s fascination with psychoanalysis and find out why he believes that therapy is more effective than grad school for artists who want to get in touch with themselves and their artwork. “Being in therapy did more for me than grad school ever did,” he says. “It was way more effective and helpful in terms of getting in touch with who I am [and] the art I want to make.”

Listeners will also learn time-management techniques for better focus and why truly great artists are constantly “emerging” as opposed to becoming firmly established, as the art world would have us believe. As John comments during our conversation, being alone in the studio is vital, but “at some point, you have to go out into the world and emerge.”

Key Points From This Episode:

• How Inversion Art makes John’s practice easier (and introduced him to Not Real Art).
• What it means to him to be a creative technologist and how it influences his work.
• The language of programming, how it relates to art, and how John navigates both worlds.
• Fascinating ways that art-making “amplifies” his humanity.
• The evolution of John's iterative artworks and the mediums he uses to create them.
• Insight into his transition from photography to painting and how he “found his voice.”
• The inspiration behind his current exhibition, Perfect Temperature Lava in New York.
• Why hope, joy, and play are more important than they might seem.
• Work-life balance for artists and how self-care keeps John focused.
• How the Pomodoro time-management technique can benefit artists.
• John’s emergent vision for himself and his practice in 2024 and beyond.
• The power of therapy, putting yourself out there, and other advice for aspiring artists.
• Reflections on what it means to be a truly great artist.

For more information, please visit http://notrealart.com/john-houck