We were lucky to catch up with Devon Hall recently and have shared our conversation below.

Devon, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I believe the current series that I am working on is my most meaningful project to date. It is a series geared towards the many traumatic experiences that people face daily. I believe that art is a representation of the current cultural and social status. However I’ve noticed an increase in the representation of the fantasy/glamorous side life and a decrease on the representation of the more serious topics that plague us at the moment. I’m all for representing our heroes and showing homage to important places and moments from history, but I also believe people need to reflect on the darker side of humanity sometimes, in order to find better ways of coping and healing. I want to tell the stories of those who feel like their voice was stolen or left unheard.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Not quite sure where to start, but I’ve been drawing ever since I could pick up a pencil. It’s literally a gift from my father. I received my formal training at Frostburg State University, there I studied illustration and painting. (C/o ’11). It was also during this time where I started my journey into tattooing. Seventeen years of tattooing has heavily influenced my approach to my illustration and fine art projects. Other major influences that are vivid throughout my work is comics, manga and anime. These aren’t usually major themes that are accepted within the fine art world, but I believe my work will break that barrier. I aim to take the precisely detailed story telling of Jim Lee, Greg Capullo and Todd McFarland, with emotional and social satire of Michaelangelo Caravaggio, Francisco Goya, and Francis Bacon. My primary mediums are pencils, pens and markers. These too are things that aren’t highly appreciated in the fine art world, but I ain’t to show, that it’s not medium, rather the content that needs to be admired

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I actually think society is headed in the right direction with supporting artists. I’ve spent the last year doing vendor events and festivals, most of which are community or independently sponsored. I would like to see more funding and learning opportunities for less connected artists who aren’t really knowledgeable about how to navigate the art world. While there are a lot of resources out there, many require financial commitments that maybe not everyone can afford to make. But there are many people out there with gifts to be shared but are just caught up in the everyday grind of survival.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My number one goal is to take care of my mother. She’s sacrificed a lot so that I can do what I do working on my art career. Words don’t do it justice, I just want her to see that the time put in wasn’t all in vain.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Treehouseink_1616
• Facebook: Treehouse Dev

Image Credits

Devon Hall