Studio Sunday artist John Houck is a painter who combines photographic imagery with the aesthetics of digital intervention and composition, creating works that toe the line between documentarian and uncanny. Based in Los Angeles, Houck creates his works in a home studio.

Houck’s space looks bright, relatively clean, and highly professional in the above photo. It looks like the artist has a few different tables in use, at least two of them with wheels on the bottom for easy movement and reorganization of the space – perhaps when inspiration hits for a particularly large work.

The artist’s supplies seem to include numerous books, and perhaps some photographic or development tools under the table toward the front of the image. There’s no paint or brushes strewn around – it seems safe to assume that Houck is primarily working with paper, photographs, and cutting or adhesive implements, so the studio space is a little cleaner than what you’d expect from a painting space.

I like the contrast between the clean, white, gallery walls here, and the very utilitarian ceiling, with just the plain wood beams and lights hanging down. It reminds me of the studio spaces in an art school. I wonder if Houck has a dark room attached to this space, given his use of photographs and printing techniques.

Houck’s art career is relatively young, though the artist has already had multiple solo shows in New York and other cities. The artist’s works present everyday objects in bizarre and conceptually suggestive placements, giving photographic prints the look of digitally altered imagery.  

[image source]