We recently connected with Carter Hodgkin and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Carter thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
I have not earned a full time living as an artist. It comes and goes over the years.
However I am thankful for the path I took as I developed skills necessary to make a living. And those skills became useful in my artwork.
I’ve had many friends and aquaintances who made money and a living when they were young. Tastes change in the artworld and some of those friends were unprepared as to how to make a living when the market for their work disappeared.
Carter, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
In starting out, I was influenced by Post Modern artists such as Sol Lewitt. I lived in San Francisco in the late ’70’s when a digital culture was being born. When I moved to New York in 1980, I was surprised by artworld trends, and felt artists were looking more to the past than the future.
Except for video artists I knew, there was an artworld aversion to anything digital. The ongoing discourse about painting, photography and representation – about the way images were represented – seemed to ignore the significance of digital representation.
At the same time, new technologies were digitizing the body through MRIs, SEMs, PET scans, and other techniques. I saw the interpolation of the body by these imaging techniques as an intersection between representation and abstraction. I looked for ways to place this digital visual language within painting. I explored various techniques including photosilkscreen and inkjet print, allowing the mark of the hand to be revealed in conjunction with photographed imagery. My whole body of work has since grappled with this conflict between painting and technology while exposing a new visual universe
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I can create work, get it out to the public and get feedback. It’s a loop that’s exciting and fulfilling. I’m never bored or at a loss for something to do.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I live near the World Trade Center and experienced 9/11 firsthand. It was a very difficult and trying time that lasted for years. I had to make physical and psychological adjustments over time. I was able to process my state of mind through my artwork.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://carterhodgkin.com
- Instagram: @carterhodgkin
- Other: Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user3764619
Image Credits
Victor Schrager Photography, George Heinrich Photography, Joshua White Photography